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THE
FALL OF THE NAN SOUNG,
VOL. IL
THE
FALL OF THE NAN SOUNG :
^ Catc of t\)t
MOGUL CONQUEST OF CHINA.
A. L. LYMBURNER.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. IL
LONDON
SAUNDERS AND OTLEY, CONDUIT STREET.
1846.
6^3
THE
FALL OF THE NAN SOUNG.
CHAPTER I.
Some distance without the city of Hancheyu-fu
was one of those buildings denominated in
Chinese Tsong-miao,* and by Euroj^ean tra-
vellers, " hall of ancestors," erected for the pur-
pose of honouring the progenitors of a family/^®
the members of which, at certain seasons of the
year — in spring and autumn — meet together to
perform the ceremonies prescribed by the
" tribunal of rites." At these periods, some
times upwards of two thousand individuals are
collected under the same roof, varying in rank
from the highest ojficial to the lowest artizan.
No difference of fortune, however, is reco-
* Vide De Guignes, il 305
VOL. II. B
2 THE FALL OF
gnised at these congregations, the oldest
present occupying the most honourable post;
the more wealthy, at the close of the ceremonies,
possessing alone the distinction of furnishing a
repast to regale their relatives.
As soon as a male child is born, his name,
and the particulars of his birth, are inscribed
upon a stone tablet that is inserted in the wall
of the same Tsong-Miao as contains those of
his father and family; when he dies, an adjunct
is made of the posts he has filled, or the profes-
sion he has followed — the merit he has acquired
by his observance of virtue, or by his ftdfilment
of his duties as a citizen.
The proceedings are usually the repetition
of songs in commemoration of such among
their parents as have been famed for their virtue,
the restoration of such of the older tablets as
decay, with the decoration or removal of those of
modern date, when he, whose name is inscribed
thereon, has rendered himself illustrious by his
observance or administration of the laws, or in-
famous by the committal of some crime.
Far different was the demeanour of the
present assembly, consisting of about two
hundred persons, collected beneath the roof of
THE NAN SOUNG. 3
the Tsong-miao, dedicated, to the members of
the family of Kya, from that of descendants
mourning for and honouring their fathers.
Were it not for the variety of their costumes, a
stranger would have thought himself introduced
to the orgies of a guard-house.
Divided into numerous parties, each amused
himself according to his taste, the majority
seeming to have but one view in common — that
of creating as much noise as possible, and
drinking, in the same proportion, of the rice
wine that was plentifully supplied to them.
Around several tables, still covered with frag-
ments of meats and conserves, several of the
company reclined, as though in a state of re-
pletion, and in attitudes that intimated they
were more careful of their own ease than mind-
ful of decorum. Gambling was the occujDation
of nearly all the others, who betted alike at
chess, *^ draughts, cards, or the noisy game of
tsoey-mooey, or, as it is called in Italy, mora,
that is played by two, each one, at the same
instant, casting off a certain number of the
fingers of one hand, and calling a number that
may not exceed ten, nor be less than two.
That player wins, the number of whose dis-
B 2
4 THE FALL OF
tended fingers, added to those of his opponent,
make the sum he has named. The disputings
of the bystanders were sufficiently loud to have
filled the saloon with uproar, without the assist-
ance of another party, who amused themselves
by setting to fight, in a copper vessel, a couple
of grasshoppers of a large species. To com-
plete the variety of the diversions, dice were
not wanting, that, being thrown by the hand,
and not from a box, gave the initiated gambler
no small advantage over the novice.
From the most early periods of Chinese
historv, a sect has existed that bears the name
of Pelienkia, whose object is revolt, but whose
more particular motives are shrouded in
mystery. Though occasionally discovered, yet
some of its members have even managed to
elude the severe chastisement of the govern-
ment, and continue secretly to propagate their
opinions. Eeader, you are introduced to one of
its meetings, on a night of important delibera-
tions.
«
Some few of the members, from their more
dignified demeanour, and from appearing to
fear detection more than the rest, their faces
THE NAN SOUNG. 5
being disguised with Chinese ink, declared
themselves the chiefs. They were gathered in
two or three knots, conversing earnestly, but
without the least gesticulation that might betray
the subject they were canvassing. Presently,
they were joined by one disguised like them-
selves, whom they resj^ectfully saluted.
The new comer returned their salute, and
then, whispering to one, said —
" Kaohe, those swine, without, have so wallowed
in the filth of the orgy, that they can no longer
maintain their watch. Go and relieve, and be
careful that you do not imitate them. A police
force, to apprehend, they say, some coiners, has
been put in motion this evening. That may be
their intention ; but the shepherd must re-
double his vigilance when the wolves menace
his neighbour's pen !"
'' Great lord, you are obeyed," Kaohe re-
plied, and immediately quitted the hall.
A consultation of a few minutes took place
among the chiefs, which the new comer, who
was Kyatsetao, determined, after the fashion of
one accustomed to be obeyed. At its conclusion,
a sign was made to a man, who struck with a
O THE FALL OF
mallet uj^on a hollow and wooden effigy of a
reposing tiger. As the sounds thus produced
prevailed above the uproar, somewhat like
silence was procured in the saloon.
The card and dice-players forsook their
amusements, amid the muttered regrets of the
losers, and the silent repinings of the winners.
The grasshoppers were separated in the heat of
their conflict, and returned to their cages, to
await another occasion for the exercise of their
mutual animosity ; whilst the mora-players
occupied their hands in removing the tables
that encumbered the centre of the hall, round
which seats were arranged in a semi- circular
form, and in front of these were placed chairs
for the disguised assistants at the meeting. In
the space between one and the other was a
tripod brazier, the legs, intended to represent
those of a dragon, resting each upon a bronze
tortoise.
A second time the room echoed the sounds
dealt upon the tiger's hollow back, upon which
he whole assembly seated themselves.
When the noise caused by this movement
had subsided, a side door was opened, and
rhrough it entered a number of priests of the
THE NAN SOUNG. 7
Laotsy sect, four of whom bore a yellow canopy
over the head of one whose rank among them
was equivalent to that of bishop, whilst all
united in chanting an invocation to the
supreme spirit, in whose honour incense was
cast upon the coals the brazier contained.
With their superior in the centre, the hiero-
phants formed themselves into a line in the
space between the chief and subaltern members
of the assembly, whose deliberations, in more
clamorous tones than ever, they besought their
divinity to bless.
The prayer being concluded, amid the boom-
ings of a large gong, and the rollings of the
" tiger instrument," one of the superior mem-
bers arose, and addressed the assembly.
" Alike have we laboured to secure a harvest
of wealth and honours," he said, in the clear
voice of a good speaker ; for the Chinese esteem
oratory highly, considering it a necessary branch
of education, and therefore pursue its study
with ardour. *' We have sown in danger —
thorny plants have checked the growth of our
toil, but our fortune has been triumphant !
The gem at length lies at our feet, — who shall
forbid our grasping it ? The empire is in con-
8 THE FALL OF
fusion — the yellow dragon is shorn of his
power ! Never again will such a fortunate com-
bination of circumstances present itself. Many
grandees — many of the mandarins nearest unto
the falling heaven, are united with us by bonds
as imperceptible, but strong as the silken knots
that Yuelaou ties.* Assured to each have now
become the riches he may envy, or the
vengeance for which he may thirst ; and honours
unto all ! On the morrow, your council have
resolved to assault the imperial palace, for
which we are in sufficient numbers ; for the
guards are but few, whilst many among the troops
behold with a dark eyef our fortunate project.
Are you content tliat Tyen elect who shall fill
the dragon throne ? Our design is like porcelain
that be already baked : an instant more, and
the furnace destroys the ware ! We are pre-
jDared for execution ; delay exposes us to need-
less, and yet fierce danger !"
The assembly unanimously signified its con-
sent ; for many who composed it were creatures
of Kyatsetao, and the others men of broken
fortunes, ready to remedy their dilapidated
purses by any proceeding, however desperate.
♦ Vide Note 46. f Vide Note 71.
THE NAN SOUNG. 9
The priests re-commeDced their prayers,
entering into the Hsts against the gong and the
" tiger instrument," each of which appeared
animated by the invidious design of alone being
heard.
The invocation being at last concluded, the
religious superior proceeded, with a tortoise-
shell in his hand, round the hall, inquiring, in
a whisper to each, if he desired to become a
candidate for the imperial dignity, and inscribing
the names of those who replied in the affirmative
.on the hollow side of the shell.
The shell, being placed upon a stand, was
filled with lighted sticks of decayed aloe-wood,
and whilst these were being consumed, the
priests re-commenced their Stentorian orations.
As the smoke of the incense arose, the assembly
seemed to be converted into stone. Whilst many
a bosom, more credulous than wise, deluded
itself with an ambitious hope, Kyatsetao's was
perfectly tranquil, for well he knew what would
be the result of the divination.
With many ceremonies, the chief of the
priests proceeded to remove the shell, continuing,
for some time, to regard it attentively. The
lines composing the characters of any name
B 3
10 THE FALL OF
that the action of fire should trace in cracks, in-
dicated him who was to become emperor.^*"
The priest gazed slowly round the assembly,
until his eye fell upon Kyatsetao, towards whom
he advanced, saying, as he prostrated himself —
" To high destiny art thou called, mighty
minister. The family of Kya in thee is exalted
above the stars. Beceive the homage of your
slave !" And as he spoke, he touched the
ground nine times with his forehead.
The example of their superior was imitated
by the inferior p)riests. The disguised in-
dividuals quitted their seats to prostrate them-
selves, whilst the remainder of the assembly, in
spite of the disappointment of many of its
members, impelled by the natural inclination of
men to imitation, joined in exalting immeasur-
ably above themselves him who, a few minutes
before, according to their own regulations, was
but their confederate. Perhaps, the quality of
Kyatsetao, now, for the first time, made known
to his fellow conspirators through the words of
the priest, from the surprise its announcement
occasioned, deprived them of any inclination to
demur at the result of the divination.
Yellow robes were brought in, and in them
THE NAN SOUNG. 11
the new monarch was clothed. A hat, fashioned
somewhat like an university cap, having attac^:ed
alike to the hack and front six strings of pearls
and jewels, was placed upon his head ; a girdle
was passed round his waist ; in his hand was
placed a tablet of jade, the Chinese sceptre ;
and over him was unfolded a triple parasol of
orange-coloured silk.
Having been attired by the hands of the chief
of the priests, Kyatsetao bid his subjects rise.
A list of the different honours accorded to each
conspirator was then read, and received with
general satisfaction, which presently became
perfectly enthusiastic, when Kyatsetao had ter-
minated a speech, abounding with brilliant
promises to his auditory, by calling upon each
one composing this last to name the individuals
whose projoerty they coveted, that a jjroscription
of such and their possessions might be promptly
effected by the new government.
The last of these names had been inscribed,
when the door of the saloon opened, andKaohe
re-entered, without so much as a reverence in
respect to his employer's new and high dignity,
to whom he advanced, and whispered in his ear :
" The guards of the criminal tribunal ap-
12 THE FALL OF
proach ! We must fly, if our lives be worth pre-
serving !"
" From what quarter ? I am lost ! Curses
on my enemies, for they be triumphant ! " ex-
claimed Kyatsetao, in a tone of despair, and
rising from his seat, as though with the design
of making an instantaneous retreat.
This movement Kaohe restrained, saying —
'* Act with gravity, and no harm can happen.
Command your emotions, and quit the saloon
calmly. You may then escape ; but if these be
alarmed, their panic will impede your flight.
If you be at large, your 2:>ower will be more than
sufficient to suspend all proceedings. What
does my lord command ?" inquired Kaohe, with
a sudden change in his style.
Perhaps the feelings of Kyatsetao had never
approached so near to those of gratitude as on
the present occasion : the words of Kaohe ap-
peared like a divine announcement of an en-
larged lease of life. Acting upon the suggestions
he had received, with considerable effort, he
succeeded in reducing his perturbed demeanour
to one of tranquillity, and then, addressing the
assembly, said —
'' Information of great importance requires
THE NAN SOUNG. 13
that we deliberate in secret with our couucil.
Meanwhile, resume your diversions."
As Kyatsetao concluded, he retired with those
members of the society who from the first had
been disguised, and still continued so, and to
whom he imparted the information he had just
received.
By these his alarm was equally shared, and,
without a dissentient voice, instant flight, and
the abandonment of their treasonable project,
were agreed to. Silently they departed from the
Tsong-miao, a few minutes before it was sur-
rounded by a police force, conducted by the
eunuch Tkinkoan.
u
THE FALL OF
CHAPTEK II.
" Le lac Sihou deroule devant lui ses eaux transparentes
que sillonnent des milliers de barques couvertes de sculpture
et etincelant des plus vives couleurs." — Blanche et Blue.
Forth flocked the multitudes of Hancheya-fu,
as soon as the hours of business, never unrea-
sonably protracted by the pleasure- loving in-
habitants of the city, would permit; and down
they crowded, some on foot, some in chairs, and
others in carriages, towards their calm and
lovely lake.
The road that led to the shore from one of
the southern gates, broad, paved, and shaded
with trees, was alive with one moving mass,
and the cries of the porters and carriage -drivers
who put down their passengers, mingled with
the rival calls of the boatmen, whose barges
THE NAN SOUNG. 15
were drawn up along the shore awaiting their
freights, created a sufficiency of noise and con-
fusion to have pleased an enemy of solitude.
Of a silvery shade were the waters of the lake,
and so transparent, that the fish, chasing their
prey amid the weeds and stones, seemed,
though full two fathoms down, removed from
the spectator scarce the length of his arm.
The Sihu, better than a league in circum-
ference, is situated to the west of Hancheyu-fu,
and surrounded on the west, north, and south
by hills of varied form : some arise with abrupt
and rocky summits, others terminate in cones,
from whence springs up some elegant pagoda,
a graceful form of building that the Chinese do
well to introduce so frequently as an ornament
to their scenery. Some are covered with masses
of rock, others are carjoeted with soft grass ;
but the slopes of the greater portion are covered
with forests of pine, cypress, arbor vitse, with
other colossal members of the vegetable king-
dom, that mingle their dark foliage with the
bright green of the camphor and purple hue of
the candle tree.
Beneath the shade of these lie tombs of
everv class : here moulders a naked coffin, for
16 THE FALL OF
which the poverty of the friends of the deceased
had been unable to procure a grave ; and there is
a humble mound, nearly reduced by the rain
and wind to a level with the surrounding soil,
contrasting with yonder proud semi-circular
tomb, with its obelisks of stone, its tablet that
enumerates the virtues that adorned, and the
honours that were enjoyed by the ashes it con-
tains, and with its figures of slaves and animals
sculptured in wood and stone, that stand around,
as impotent to defend from insult, as the dead
they were supposed to watch, were capable of
appreciating whether the tongue that moved
before its sepulchre, uttered words of sorrow or
of rejoicing.
As though unwilling to invade the precincts
of the lake, the hills had left between them-
selves and its water a broad level plain, every
inch of which was occupied by gardens, palaces,
convents, and the villas of the more wealthy
citizens, and along which ran a beautiful road,
between a double file of trees. The mulberry
was there, but its twisting branches were as yet
unadorned with leaves. Numerous fruit trees,
had, however, put forth their blossoms, but
THE NAN SOUNG. 17
none were so numerous as the peach, that the
Chinese regard as symboHcal of matrimony.
Towards the centre of the lake there are two
islands, on each of which, at the expense of the
citizens, a large hotel had been built, divided
into numerous apartments, and also several de-
tached pavilions.
Hither came parties to pass their evenings
in feasting ; the waters of the lake being robbed
of their tenants to furnish the most prized of
the viands. Close to the more northern isle,
were three iron pillars, to which the boats were
attached that awaited the revellers.
On the eastern shore appeared the tall, blue,
embattled walls of the town, bounded on the
north by the gardens of the imperial palace,
and on the south by the lofty but artificial hill,
on the summit of which was a temple dedicated
to Chim Hoangty, the guardian spirit of the
city, together with a tower, in which was a clyp-
sydra, the guardian of which told the hours, by
displaying boards on which they were traced,
in gilt characters, a foot and a half long. At
the south-western corner of the lake, a long
valley had given room for the construction of a
18 THE FALL OF
vast garden ; whither, those who cared not for
the amusements of the water, came to disport
with their women, or their male companions.
On the right of these gardens, rose the moun-
tain Tien-hoang, whose summit, divided into
two crests, by the Chinese is said to touch the
heavens ; and on the left, was the monastery of
Ting-tse-tse, miraculously built, as its priests
relate, from the wood of but one tree, and to
the curious visitor they show the last remains of
its stem, in a well twenty-five feet beneath the
earth, and on a level with the water ; * near it,
was the ruined tower of Lui-fong-ta, or " temple
of the winds and thunder," f of which the fol-
lowing is the story : —
In ages far remote, upwards of two thousand
years ago, that tower stood upon a promontory
that jutted into the lake, perfect, and nine
stories in height. In those days, the genii had
not entirely deserted the earth, or rendered
themselves invisible to the eyes of all ordinary
mortals, and frequently they came mounted
upon enormous dragons, to disport upon the
Sihu. A priest, at that age when the heart is
* De Guignes, ii. 74. f Ibid.
THE NAN SOUNG. 10
most susceptible of enthusiastic emotions, bad
devoted himself to the service of the small
temple that lay at the foot of the tower. When
not occupied at his devotions, the recluse
passed his time gazing -with awe and wonder
upon the celestial beings amusing themselves
about the lake, sporting with each other, or
conversing upon matters human comprehension
could not even name ; but whenever the priest,
thirsting for knowledge of the other spheres,
sought to become a partaker of their discourse,
he was driven back to his cell with some re-
proachful epithet. At length, it was his fate
to encounter two female genii, sisters; and they,
less haughty than the males, admitted him to
their society. The hearts of genii are as sus-
ceptible as those of men ; and one of the sisters
became inspired with a soft, bat not a gentle
flame. The priest soon became aware of the
impression he had made, pursued his advan-
tage, and triumphed, and privately united him-
self to the object of his love. A son was the
result of this marriage ; but with the birth of
the child, the connexion could no longer be
kept secret. The intelligence was communi-
cated by a malevolent spirit, in a full council of
20 THE FALL OF
the genii, who unanimously resolved to punish
the disgrace brought upon them, and the mor-
tal whose temerity had wrought it. The guilty
pair were destroyed in each other's embraces,
the temple and two-thirds of the pagoda were
overwhelmed, but a portion of the last still re-
mains, overgrown with moss and grass, a warn-
ing to the presumption of man.*
Vessels of all descriptions were upon the
lake. The barge of the high mandarin, with
banners, umbrellas, and all other its proud in-
signia, floated on. The gorgeous vessel of the rich
and luxurious citizen, with its brigade of boon
companions and noisy band of musicians, hur-
ried about in rather an erratic course, somewhat
differently from the track pursued by the sober
merchant, who thus treated his family to amuse-
ment ; but the boats that excited most attention
among the young men, were those poled by
women, and in whose cabin sat some fair dame,
whose trade was love. Modern travellers assert
that these damsels no longer ply upon the lake.
It may be so ; but at the time of which we write,
the example of a luxurious court had much im
* Vide De Guignes, ii. 324.
THE NAN SOUNG. 21
paired the scrupulous, or rather ceremonious,
habits of Chinese decency among the good
people of Hancheyu-fu.
One of the last, beautifully ornamented, and
with a band of music stationed upon the flat
roof of its cabin, playing what was intended as
a soft and voluptuous air, glided about : but the
windows, of thin laminae of shell, were closed,
and not one of all the curious eyes directed to-
wards it, to detect its occupant, had been suc-
cessful. To us, reader, doors and bolts are of
but little importance ; and as we are under some
obligation to you, we will impart to you a por-
tion of our ubiquity.
Leeyunnian in undertaking to seduce Tkang-
hia, had handled fire that now consumed her,
and she was deeply enamoured of the officer
who sat by her side. Her hair, after the fashion
of the maids of Kiangnan, fell in negligent
tresses down her shoulders, that, with her
bosom, were clad, but not concealed, under
folds of muslin. Her dress, of richly figured
satin, fell to the knee, where it was joined
by trowsers, marked with yellow, green, and
red stripes, that terminated a little below the
calf; the lower part of the leg was swathed
22 THE FALL OF
in coloured handkerchiefs, and the foot inserted
in a shoe, ornamented with silken fringe and
tassels. She sat, or rather reclined, upon a
heap of cushions ; Tkanghia at her side, his
head laying upon her shoulder, and one of
his hands clasjoed in hers. His countenance
seemed thoughtful, and it was some time since
he had spoken.
" You are sad," said Leeyunnian, as she
kissed the forehead of her lover. " Why do
you harbour melancholy thoughts, and not
make me a participator in your grief? Think
you, because I be a woman, that anything could
consume me more than to see your brow thus
cloudy without knowing what evil wind has ob-
scured it ? "
" Sad, think you that I be ? " replied Tkang-
hia, starting from his reverie. '' Nay, thou
precious pearl, my soul had wandered into a
sweet forgetfulness of all — ay, even of thee. My
bliss seemed to have lulled all sensation of life
into oblivion."
"Your mind was not vacant. I watched
your lip — it trembled ; and a frown quivered
upon your forehead. Those who instructed me
in physiognomy taught me that these signs be-
THE NAN SOUNG. 23
token the heart that defends, and the head that
accuses, some half-repented act."
" Beloved one, am I a sj^irit to pass through
life so immaculately as never to have a folly to
regret ? But to me thou art as the genius of
forgetfulness. In thy society, each evil re-
miniscence of the past must be lost. The
Hoangho flows thousands of lee, turbidly and
darkly ; but when it reaches the ocean, it is lost
among the bright blue waves. So my life, that
never knew tranquil joy before, now passes in
one continual succession of blissful days."
" I know these to be words of flattery ; yet,
so do I love the accents of your voice, that I
would rather die deceived by its tone than live
and not listen to its modulations. The music
is dull — its ignorant performers know not the
notes that accord with the intense passion that
consumes my bosom. I will bid them change
their performance."
" Nay, my life, leave them to their own cus-
toms. When the heart beats strongly, it needs
no sounds to increase the force of its j^alpita-
tions."
" But you are sad. My embraces are ardent,
and yet you reply not to their fire.''
24 THE FALL OF
" Think you that my mind is powerless as
the river Yo, that flows by Kancheyu, that tra-
vellers say cannot support the weight of a
straw ?* Were dark thoughts upon me, should
I betray them to you, to make you also sad ? "
" When clouds hover in the sky, their shade
is cast upon the waters. See, Tkanghia," Lee-
yunnian continued, taking a mirror of polished
metal from under the folds of her dress, and
placing it before the eyes of her lover, *' as your
form is reflected in this mirror, so are the sen-
sations of your mind reflected upon your coun-
tenance."
" I dreamt an evil dream," Tkanghia replied.
" Methought the spirits of wind and water had
prepared some ungrateful accident to oppress
me."
" Then should you have consulted some
learned priest of Tao, whose charms would pro-
tect you from malevolent influences. Off'erings
to some Miao, idol temple, will reconcile you
with the spirits ; and if not, I would clasp you
in my arms, thus ; and not even the bolts of
the god of thunder should reach you."
The barge now approached one of the islands,
* Vide Thev. Mar. Martinii.
THE NAN SOUNG. 25
and Tkaughia, partly to change the conversa-
tion, said —
" Love, let us land upon the isle of pleasure.
Amid the bright pavilions we shall forget the
weak fancies that you imagine have possessed
me,"
" Surely," exclaimed Leeyunnian, in a pleased
tone of triumph — " surely my fame wdll eclipse
that of Ouang-tsese^*^ for my talent of divination ;
I foresaw you would wish to land upon the
island, and have caused a pavilion to be pre-
pared for the master of my soul." As Leeyun-
nian ceased, she rang a bell, and commanded
the servant who obeyed the summons that the
barge should be directed towards the island.
'' How grateful am I for your foresight !" said
Tkanghia, embracing his mistress. " How
painful is that gratitude that presses upon the
heart, and which the hands have not power to
testify."
*' But the tongue may. Tkanghia, I have a
woman's jealousy of aught that divides my
lover's heart with me. Tell me the thought that
distresses you ; and if it have substance, like a
tigress, I will tear it in pieces."
" Did I know the retreat of the stag, would
VOL. II. c
26 THE FALL OF
it be generous to point it out to its mortal
enemies, the bears of Hantchong ?* Beloved,
as in the heavens there is but one sun, so are
you the sole mistress of my heart."
*' Though there be but one sun, there are
myriads of stars ; and when the sun sinks be-
hind the rock Siumi, that is twenty-four thou-
sand lee beneath the ocean, then they rival each
other to possess the rule of heaven. I sink for
thee ; but thy heart is not without some star to
which it offers homage. Some dragon dreams,
thoughts of ambition, or some regards over the
track fire has scorched, regrets for some past
foible, begin to sparkle in the zenith of your
soul."
''Why, Leeyunnian, do you seek trouble from
my thoughts ? Let ashes smoulder, for by dis-
turbing them, they burst into a flame."
'' Tkanghia, it is in vain that you would con-
ceal your mind from me. You regret what you
regard as a culpable negligence of duty — the
not having presented your accusation against
the governor of Nanchang-fu. Behold ! " Lee-
yunnian continued, producing a paper in an
* Vide Thev. Mar. Martinii.
THE NAN SOUNG. 27
envelope of yellow silk, *' when, at my en-
treaty, you destroyed your accusation, I collected
the scattered scraps, and diligently copied every
character, intending thus to have ever with me
something that would speak of you. Take
the result of my labour. It requires but your
signature to be an authentic document. Pre-
sent it ; and when you are disgraced, I will avow
myself as your accomplice, and share your
punishment."
'' Leeyunnian, you have divined aright the
cause of my thoughtfulness ; but never shall
your devotion to my evil fortune cost you a
tear," replied Tkanghia, as he took the paper
from the hand of his mistress, and rising from
his seat, opened the window, and cast it forth.
" See," he continued, as it floated on the water,
whilst the barge receded, " the lake itself re-
fuses to receive so infamous an accusation.
Maybe fate will convey it to one through whom
it may reach its destination."
This he said, as a vessel, bearing the imperial
insignia, approached the package. His eye
sought to penetrate the silken blinds that con-
cealed its inmates. He started, for in the
c 2
28 THE FALL OF
countenance that rested a moment near the
screen, he thought he recognised the lady
whom he had accompanied to the tower of the
magician. Her beauty had made an impression
upon his heart ; and one of the chief causes of
his present liaison had been his desire to forget,
in the arms of others, those charms the memory
of which was painful, as a gambler, in the ex-
citement of some fresh hazard, endeavours to
forget his previous misfortune.
Few passions, and none, with women, quicken
the perceptions equal to that of love. Leeyun-
nian had discerned the momentary expression
of her lover's countenance, and a jealous pang
shot through her breast. Quitting her seat,
she stood at his side, and then beheld the im-
perial barge approach the floating package,
that had attracted the attention of one of the
crew, who raised it, with respectful demeanour,
from the water. At this sight, she was un-
able to restrain a faint shriek, and covering
her face with her hands, cast herself upon the
seat.
Tkanghia, as he heard her cry, removed his
gaze from the windows of the imperial barge.
THE NAN SOUNG. 29
and approached his mistress. As he gently
removed her hands, he said —
" Leeyunnian, weeping ! Have you so soon
forgotten your own precepts, when you forbade
my being sad ? What has affected you ? The
paper is destroyed for ever."
'* Destroyed ! No, Tkanghia, it exists. You
watched it not. You gazed but upon the yellow
blinds ; and surely you saw one of the inhabi-
tants of the Hokoong, the imperial harem ? You
thought her beautiful. In what did she excel
me ? Was her cheek or her lips redder, her
forehead smaller, or her hair blacker ? With
vexation I will bite my lips until they be stained
with blood. I will beat my head until it be of
the size to please you." Here the lady was
interrupted by her sobs.
'' Believe me, beloved one, I gazed merely
from curiosity. I beheld no one."
" Truly, did you not see one of the imperial
women ? "
" Truly, by the spirits of wind and water,"
replied Tkanghia ; and, reader, be not offended
with him for saying this. If you be aged, there
were days when you must have uttered some-
30 THE FALL OF
what of the Hke in the ear of some fair one
-wilhng to beheve you ; if you be young, your
time is yet to come ; if you be a lady, a lesson
that teaches you diffidence as to the vows of
men, may save you a tear.
" Then again I clasp you as my own," said
Leeyunnian, smiling, whilst the tears still glis-
tened in her lids. *' You are my own ; and
dearer, for the very danger imminent above
your head."
"What danger, timid one?" inquired Tkan-
ghia, as he caressed his mistress. " Your fears
are almost troublesome. Continually you call
up some gaunt shadow, endow it with sub-
stance, and bid it sit brooding, as some night-
mare upon your soul. One moment, you are
jealous even to deface the features upon which
I delight to gaze ; the next, with some new
terror, you turn your heart to ice."
" You saw not, as I did, your accusation float-
ing upon the lake. You saw not one of the
crew of the imperial barge take it up respect-
fully from the water. Before this, it has reached
hands by which, whether they belong to those
who be friendly to you or not, you must be lost."
THE NAN SOUNG. 31
" How SO ? It has not my signature."
" That matters not. Many must have seen
you cast it into the lake. An object dedicated
to the emperor to be treated with such dis-
respect ! The smallest mandarin would raise
his hand against you. The lowest of the people
would endeavour to vindicate the outrage to
the son of heaven you have been guilty of. The
law is, whoever is guilty of disrespect towards
the emperor, shall suffer death/'*
'' Whatever happens is with the permission
of Heaven, and man can no more strive against
its decrees, than a fish escape from the net in
which it is taken," replied Tkanghia; but in
spite of the assurance with which he spoke, he
was alarmed at the consequences of the incon-
siderate act of which he had been guilty.
" But why," he continued, " annoy ourselves
with speculations as to the future ? We are
near the island — the barge stops. Let us
land; and whatever time may give birth to,
we will dedicate the next few hours to plea-
sure."
Two sedans conveyed Tkanghia and his mis-
♦ Vide Du Halde, ii. 43.
32 THE FALL OF
tress from the sanpan, or small boat, that
landed them on the shore, to a small but beau-
tiful pavilion, from whence a view of the lake,
of the surrounding country, and of all the
luxurious and fairy scenery around, could be
obtained.
THE NAN SOUNG. 33
CHAPTER HI.
Tkanghia and his mistress sat in the pavihon
of the island. The dishes served before them,
though savoured with all the spices that Chinese
cooks know so well how to employ, and that
might render to an European palatable what
he would otherwise regard with disgust, were
removed in succession, almost untasted. One
was thoughtful, partially regretting the duties
he ought to have fulfilled and the inglorious
life of debauch into which he had entered, and
amid the self- accusations thus raised against
him fluttered the figure of a fair form that he
had rendered himself unworthy to possess. The
other's thoughts were of mingled sadness and
anger. Anger, because of the jealous flame
c 3
34 THE FALL OF
kindled in her bosom, yet with scarce reason
to justify her suspicion of her lover's fidelity;
sadness, because she beheld him she loved
menaced with danger. The play performed
before them proceeded without exciting a smile
from either, though the comedians, habited
as birds, beasts, and even fishes, represented
one of their broadest farces, the plot being the
various deceptions practised by a young wife upon
an old and credulous spouse. They scrupled
not to utter the most obscene jests, or to mimic
the most indecent postures.
'^ I drink/' said Leeyunnian, after a long
silence, addressing Tkanghia, somewhat cere-
moniously — "I drink to your illustrious
health ! "
" I respond with delight to your sentiment,"
replied Tkanghia, affecting an air of gaiety as
he placed his emptied cup upon the table.
" Leeyunnian, you appear as melancholy as
though your father lay without a coffin to con-
tain his ashes. Chase your gloomy thoughts,
and unite your joy with mine."
'^ Your lips pronounce the invitation, but
your eye responds not to the sentence. It is
not union with me you now covet, but with her.
THE NAN SOUNG. 35
who, contrary to all the laws of decency, has
presented herself to the gaze of a male stranger.
Deny it not ; the vows of men are like to Chin-
chu, the lake of pearls, on the shore of which,
if the traveller strike, forth issue hubbies of air,
that resemble pearls, but burst under the grasp
of the credulous stranger only to soil his
hands."*
Tkanghia, perhaps, knew the philosophy that
teaches when a woman weeps from anger, let
her cry her passion out ; but some political
author, we forget whom, has written — the same
wants will create the same means to satisfy
them ; and probably the desire of appeasing an
irritated lady may have originated the same
mode of treatment in China as elsewhere.
Tkanghia sought not to interfere whilst the tearful
paroxysm lasted, and allowed the pearly drops
to flow without interruption ; but when he per-
ceived these to become less frequent, and a
certain crimson spot upon the uj^per part of the
cheek to increase in circumference, he wisely
broke silence, fearful lest his indifference should
excite his fair mistress into a violent passion.
* Vide Thev. Mar. Martinii.
36 THE FALL OF
" Surely/' said Tkanghia, " you do not deem
that I shall prove ungrateful for the favours you
have conceded me ? Cease to weep, for I shall
ever be true to you as the stars are firm in
heaven. All men are not equally unjust."
" Firm as the stars in heaven ! " replied Lee-
yunnian, derisively. '' Do you think I have
never watched the lofty vault at night, and
noted that even its bright denizens become
wearied of their positions, and continually
change their places, darting across the sky ? "*
Say you all men are not alike ? — they resemble
each other as one wave of the ocean does its
fellows, in imitation of which their generations
succeed each other, each surge as proud to the
view and hateful to the taste as that which pro-
ceeds or follows."
'' Thou art angry, Leeyunnian ! Thy mind
is obscured by passion, and thou no longer dis-
cernest according to justice. It is now near
one whole moon, during which I have scarcely
for an instant been separated from thy side.' '
" One moon ! And have you kept an account
of the passing days ? To me, who counted the
time by the bliss I enjoyed, it appeared an age.
But you are wearied of dwelling among the
THE NAN SOUNG. 37
flowers ! Like other men, you are inconstant
as the scentless rose of Quantong, that changes
its shade twice during the day — in the morning
is purple, at noon is white."*
'' But my fidelity to thee shall be as the rivers
to the ocean. Never will the day dawn that
shall behold me conceive an idea of separa-
tion."
Before Leeyunnian could reply, a servant
entered, bearing in his hands a note of white
paper, a colour that the Chinese assume as in-
dicative of either disgrace or mourning, and
after sundry obeisances delivered it to Tkanghia.
The last read its contents with a countenance
that denoted equal surprise and pleasure, whilst
the contraction of every muscle was noted by
his suspicious mistress.
'' Beloved one," said Tkanghia, when he had
perused the epistle, " I must quit thee for a
short time. One of my old comrades desires
an interview with me."
" Whose brash has indited this ? " inquired
Leeyunnian, jealously.
" The writer is a stranger. I myself am
scarcely acquainted with his family name. Thou
* Vide Mar. Martinii, in Thev.
38 THE FALL OF
wilt pardon me ?" replied Tkanghia ; but there
was more than sufficient confusion in his man-
ner and tone to make certain his mistress'
jealous surmises.
*' Pardon ? " she said. '' Go ! Think you
that I court your presence ? The tribunal of
rites shall be made acquainted with the insult
you have offered to the emperor's dignity. I
will come to you when you be disgraced, to re-
joice at your shame."
" You shall want the opportunity," said
Tkanghia, laughing. *' I shall ever be by you,
and jealously watch that you escape not from
my embraces to become my accuser."
" I forbid you. The spirit of my hearth
shall not again be offended by the presence of
falsehood, personified in yourself. I depart,"
continued Leeyunnian, as she rose from her
seat, and directed a servant to summon her
chair to the door of the pavilion. She was
obeyed, and walked slowly towards the egress.
When she had crossed the room about half way,
her resolution to part in anger vanished ; and
with tearful eyes she turned and addressed
Tkanghia, who stood gazing after her with not
much of the appearance of a lover separating
from his mistress.
THE NAN SOUNG. 39
" Tkanghia/' she said, " the fire of love has
consumed my strength — my limbs totter. Will
you not ofi'er to support me ? "
'* Lady," replied Tkanghia, as he crossed the
room, and took her hand in his, " methought
you had banished me from your presence ; and
I already began to feel the grief of such a
doom."
•' You will return to me this night, will you
not ? " said Leeyunnian, as she laid her hand
upon her lover's shoulder, and paused in her
approach to the threshold.
''If you command me," replied Tkanghia;
and his mistress, contented with this assurance,
returned to her barge; but the vessel left not
the island before a youth had quitted it, com-
missioned by the lady to watch the steps of her
lover.
The mellow light of sunset spread over the
lake, as Tkanghia slowly bent his steps to
where, on a small promontory, several huge
masses of stone had been heaped together in
imitation of rocks, and surmounted by a minia-
ture pagoda, erected purposely to represent a
ruin. Here he seated himself, and glancing
his eye along the water, noted, already at some
distance, the vessel that bore his mistress.
40 THE FALL OF
"Many are the fruits," he muttered to him-
self, " that cloy the appetites of men, but no-
thing nauseates half so much as the satiety of
love. How different are your features," he
continued, addressing Leeyunnian in imagina-
tion, ^^that be a mask of chalk and crimson
paint, to the fair countenance of her to whom I
shall presently speak. No more could you sus-
tain the comparison than can this pebble, I pick
from the shore, place itself in rivalry with the
water of the diamond. How, for this faded
fruit, that seeks with paint to restore the bloom
of youth, have I forgotten my duties as a son
and as a citizen. What will my associates deem
me, if at this hour, Fan-ouen, the governor of
Nanchang, shall have effected his treason. My
name will deserve erasure from the ancestral
hall. Ay, the hymn of evening commences."
This last observation was occasioned by all
the vessels on the lake approaching a barge
filled with priests, from whence a cloud of in-
cense arose, and which directed its course to-
wards the southern shore, where stood the hill
and temple dedicated to Chim Hoangtv, the
guardian spirit of the city. Presently came the
sound of the voices of the hierophants, accom-
THE NAN SOUNG. 41
panied by a noisy music, but softened, however, by
its passage across the water, so as not to be offen-
sive to the most fastidious ear. The choruses,
or rather responses, were sung in union by the
multitude ; in every vessel was a small lighted
brasier, and as each verse was ended, gilt paper
was burnt to the divinity. Thus was the invo-
cation ; — ^*^
" Tutelary spirit ; invisible to the eye, but
sensible to the sighs of men."
'* Gracious Chim Hoangty."
" Tutelary spirit ; it is from you the people
derive each blessing that they enjoy. You
have the power to preserve them from menacing
ills."
" Guardian Chim Hoangty.''
"Although invisible, by your acquiescence
with our wishes, you render yourself sensible to
our perceptions."
" Liberal Chim Hoangty."
" If you hsten not unto our prayers, the sweet
scented aloe-wood shall smoke no more upon
your altar."
" Honoured Chim Hoangty."
" Be deaf as to our entreaties, and we will be
dumb as to your divinity. Your power will
42 THE FALL OF
exist in heaven, but your name be unknown on
earth."
" Powerful Chim Hoangty."
"The barbarians of the north spread Hke
locusts over the fields. The multitude of their
horses stamps desolation upon the plains."
" Blind Chim Hoangty,"
" If your place be usurped by a god placed
in your seat by strangers, who will honour
you ? "
" Thoughtless Chim Hoangty."
*'Aid us to drive their hordes back to the
dark deserts, as the ocean dashes its scum to
the shore."
" Irresistible Chim Hoangty."
'' Your fame then will be known in all the
land of the four oceans. Offerings will be
made you by all the dwellers on the universe."
''Awake, Cliim Hoangty."
The last note reached the ear of the listener
as the crowd of boats dispersed in every direction.
The greater number proceeded towards the city,
but one, an imperial barge, separating from the
others, returned tow^ards the island and ap-
proached the spot where Tkanghia stood. It
was the same vessel as that, one of the crew of
THE NAN SOUNG. 43
wli^ch had taken his accusation from the water.
A small boat, or sanpan, left its side, and in
this Tkanghia embarked, and was conveyed to
the larger vessel. As he mounted its side, the
crew were drawn up, and made him the obeisance
his rank claimed, which he acknowledged with
a motion of his arm, and passing on, entered
the cabin.
This was partitioned off by a silken screen,
on his side of which was spread a piece of red
carpet with a chair on its centre, and from the
roof hung foiu* gauze lanterns.
" Yeouky, commander of a thousand men, of
the red banner, be seated," said a female voice,
Tkanghia once had heard and never could
forget.
"May I inquire," said Tkanghia, after the
lapse of a few minutes, and when he had obeyed
the invitation, " may I inquire the surname of
your lofty family, and your own name in par-
ticular, and what you require of my limited
capacity."
" Of the hundred names, Lu is the one to
which my family belongs, Seynah is my maiden
name, Luseufu, formerly imperial councillor, is
my father."
44 THE FALL OF
" Lady, not only is it now my desire but my
duty to serve you ; our fathers are brothers of
the examination/** The note that came to my
unworthy hands traced by your noble brush,
expressed a flattering idea of the power I pos-
sessed to be of utility to you. I would now
render to you the assistance my father owes
yours as a brother of the examination."
'' Evil is the genius whose regards have fallen
upon the house of my father," observed Lusey-
nah, sorrowfully. " Never had he been mindless
of his duties, yet Heaven overtook him with its
visitation : a cabal of his enemies was triumph-
ant, and he is disgraced. The judges had not
sat to hear his cause when he presented an
accusation against the prime minister, accusing
him of being leagued with secret and seditious
societies. The audacious criminal was enabled
to avoid the officers, and accused my father as
a calumniator ; who now, according to the laws
of the empire, must suffer the same punishment
as, had his allegations been proved, his enemy
must have endured. But my parent may be
released from his chains, and preserved from
the danger of a fearful death, if the charges in
your accusation could be substantiated."
THE NAN SOUNG. 46
" Lady," replied Tkanghia, " I have not had
the hardy temerity to think of making a charge
without evidence to support my assertions.
To-morrow, I will strike upon the drum, and
procure an imperial audience."
" It will be needless to expose yourself to the
blows of the trial : place your signature to the
accusation. My father has friends who will
present it in the usual way."
Tkanghia expressed his willingness to obey
Luseynah's behest, and a servant restored him
his accusation, that its silken envelope had de-
fended from injury when in the water. Taking
his seals from his hat, he affixed his signature,
some red paint being furnished him for the
impression.
" Receive," said Luseynah, in tones of plea-
sure, " the thanks of a child, impotent to serve
her parent, to whom you have restored a light
bosom."
Tkanghia arose, and expressed himself as
unworthy of the obligations the lady avowed she
was under towards him. Luseynah rephed —
" Generous sir, it would be unseemly in me
as a female, to offer you refreshments. May
the spirits watch over your prosperity and
health."
46 THE FALL OF
Tkanghia bowed, and rather loathfully quitted
the cabin ; the sanpan was at the vessel's side
that re-conveyed him to the island.
The moonlight lay in a long silvery streak
upon the water, and Tkanghia watched the
imperial barge as it glided over the bright
track. It had gained the centre of the lake,
when two other barges ajoproached, one on
either quarter. Tkanghia felt angered when
he beheld the little respect they showed the
royal vessel, by approaching so near ; but, per-
haps, his indignation was roused more on
account of her who was on board, than on
account of his sovereign's dignity. Now, how-
ever, he felt alarmed, for it seemed they would
run the vessel down that bore the freight so
precious to him — they touched — the ear of love
is quick, and he seemed to hear the sound of
the concussion. — Men leap on board, — cries
are borne on the air, — the thought flashed across
his mind that Luseynah might be exposed to
the rapacity, and perhaps, the brutality of rob-
bers. His first impulse was to throw himself
into the water and swim to her protection ; but,
recollecting immediately the futility of such an
attempt, he hurried to where the boats lay. A
THE NAN SOUNG. 47
sanpan, with two men on board, was jast jDutting
oft'. Not understanding what he said, beyond
the reward he promised for their services, the
boatmen readily proceeded in the direction he
indicated. The pirates had already quitted
their prey, and were making for the shore. As
Tkanghia neared the imperial barges, he de-
manded—
" The lady Luseynah, is she in safety ?"
" The robbers have borne her off", and"-
What else the speaker said was lost to the
lover. "From one of the men he snatched the
oar, that he, now when he knew the chase he
was engaged in, rather negligently used, and
jDromising the other a hundred ounces of silver
if he should overtake the pirates, Tkanghia
exerted his utmost strength to urge the light
boat on.
The ravishers had reached the shore, where
horses awaited them, upon a couple of which two
struggling females were placed before the riders.
Tkanghia beheld but one, and called upon those
who held her to desist. The only reply he re-
ceived was a flight of arrows, one of which struck
the idle boatman in the shoulder. His com-
panion, terrified, cast himself upon the bottom
48 THE FALL OF
of the boat, and neither the threats nor offers of
Tkanghia could prevail upon him to resume his
oar. Seeing his endeavours useless, the officer
cast himself into the water, which fortunately
was not deep, and, wading, he reached the shore,
but only in time to catch the last echoes of the
flying horses' hoofs.
THE NAN SOUNG. 49
CHAPTER IV.
" Comment, chien d'esprit, nous te logeons dans un temple
commode, tu es bien dore, bien nourri, bien incence, et apr^s
tons ces soins que nous nous donnons, tu est assez ingrat pour
nous refuser ce qui nous est necessaire."— Grosier.
Two days have elapsed since the close of our
last chapter, and the excitement created in the
town of Hancheyu-fu, by the abduction of one of
the royal attendants, was far from showing any
signs of abatement. Among the women, there
was a perfect frenzy to visit the scene of the
occurrence, concerning which there were all
manner of rumours and relations. Some as-
serted that the spirits, after the lapse of so many
ages, had at last resolved to retaliate upon the
people of the city the seduction of the female
genius by the priest of the ruined tower ; others,
VOL. II. D
50 THE FALL OF
that a Tatar army had approached the city, in-
tending to seize the person of the emperor.
Every one who could invent some new account
of the transaction, no matter how marvellous,
was lauded to the skies, and became a sort
of oracle in his neighbourhood, whilst the
priests found it a most lucrative affair. To
wives and devotees, they sold '* papers of
approbation," that assured the purchaser the
preference of selection when the spirits should
next visit the environs of the town upon a de-
predatory excursion. From this the maidens
purchased exemptions, as they desired but
human spouses.
The jeweller, Kaopingte, sat in his shop in
the market square. Not a customer had en-
tered that day, and he rather gloomily looked
around, calculating in his mind the loss he sus-
tained by the capital he had laid out not re-
turning him interest, and half meditating
whether he would not sell off every article, and
open a Tang-pan, or pawn-shop,* when he would
be assured of his ten, and sometimes thirty per
cent, profit. To add to his uneasy fancies, he
now perceived his cousin Kaohe crossing the
* Vide De Guignes, iii. 123.
THE NAN SOUNG. 61
square ; and the cause of his dismay at the ap-
pearance of his worthy relative was, that latterly
the inspector of the market had, somewhat
rudely, exacted from him sundry sums, and he
feared, were he about to receive a visit, that it
would terminate to the further detriment of his
coffers.
The presentiments of the merchant were true.
His cousin passed through his jurisdiction
without disturbing any of the dealers, between
whom and their inspector an excellent under-
standing now existed, and he crossed Kaoj^ingte's
threshold with a more elevated head than usual.
Without noticing the repugnant air with which
his relative received him, Kaohe addressed the
j eweller :
" Cousin," he said, " congratulate me upon
the fortune of my star ! I this day have re-
ceived my appointment as Yewouang-chae,*
chief secretary to the embassy, by which the
central court of the universe has condescended
to make the barbarians acquainted with the just
and liberal designs it has formed in their
favour."
" Heavens !" exclaimed the jeweller, with sur-
* Vide Ellis, 62.
D 2
52 THE FALL OF
prise. " Do you tell me the river Chentan-
kiang has fallen before the laws of nature per-
mit its ebb?^''* Do you occupy a high man-
darinate before you know even the principles of
writing ? You cannot trace a character — then,
how do you purpose fulfilling the duties of so
exalted an office?"
" Cousin, do not rebuke me with the mis-
fortunes of my genius : such conduct is for-
bidden in the holy book of Tao," replied Kaohe,
in a tone of solemn reproof " Besides," he
continued, with his native modesty, " are not
panels of the Tsetan, rosewood-tree, even in
their unwrought state, more precious than the
most exquisitely varnished work?* Though
as yet I have not plucked the tallest branch of
the fragrant olive,**® my native talents render me
equal to those who have. It was the fault of
my spirit, and not of myself, when my master
placed before me the copy with large red cha-
racters, if, in place of tracing these with the
black brush upon transparent paper, I amused
myself with delineating the figure of my pre-
ceptor under the form of an animal. Ay, had
I turned the force of my mind to that study — I
* Vide Du Halde, i. 19.
THE NAN SOUNG. 53
had great talent for painting and drawing — I
might have won a name famous as that of Lee-
tahpay ! — but fortune had already decided that I
should excel in another fashion all the men of
my age."
" Truly, cousin, you have a genius endowed
with vast powers. But how will you perform
the duties your office will impose upon you ?"
" Think you," inquired Kaohe, with rather an
offended air — " think you that I shall cast away
my talents upon brushes of Hou-tcheou, though
they be the ones most prized by penmen ?
Besides, my real duties are of a different descrip-
tion, yet they are of a very delicate nature, as
you may judge. In fact, I am to be a kind of
spy- spirit over the others, with power to pre-
vent their doing anything but what he who has
appointed me desires. And, strange, that same
Tkanghia who preserved me from the Chifu has
an appointment to the same embassy. He had
intended to present an accusation against a
mandarin high in the sublime minister's confi-
dence, but this design he abandoned, owing to
some infatuation, and has eagerly accepted the
post of Tso-ouang-chae.* But this has nothing
* Equivalent to plenipotentiary. Ellis, 62.
64 THE FALL OF
to do with your question : the office of tran-
scribing what my thoughts may dictate I mean
to confide to some secretary."
'* Your expedient is worthy of your illustrious
imagination/' observed the merchant, whilst he
inwardly prayed that he might not have to fur-
nish the first salary the said secretary might
receive.
" Is this of value ?" inquired Kaohe, as he
raised a trinket, and appeared, much to the dis-
may of its owner, to admire its workmanship.
" It is a trifle — a thing of no value, except
for the chisel-work that ornaments it. It is un-
worthy to defile your illustrious hand, or I would
offer it for your acceptance," said Kaopingte, in
rather nervous accents — his cousin's fingers had
such a tenacious adherence to whatever they
once closed upon.
" You are as liberal in your gifts as Hujum-
sin,"' the saint of Nanchang. I accept this as
a memorial of your virtue, and I beg you to
present it, in my name, to the honoured lady
your wife's sister, and that you will give to me
the paper in which she acknowledges the re-
ceipt of my present."
'' For the lady Maohey ! What design have
THE NAN SOUNG. 66
you formed, that you seek to open a corre-
spondence with a lady weeping her three years
of widowhood in the apartments of her sister ?"
inquired Kaopingte, whilst his voice intimated
considerable uneasiness.
" Cousin," replied Kaohe, " I have heard that
it is enumerated among the virtues of a citizen to
marry as soon as he be able to raise up subjects
to the empire, and that he who neglects this
ordinance, is guilty of a crime almost equal to
that of parricide, since if he die without sons,
he destroys his ancestors, the family perishing
in his person. It would not be seemly in one
who aspires to fill high situations, in which he
must set the people an examj)le of conduct — it
would not be seemly for him to disregard a law
so necessary for the welfare of the empire.
Cousin, I have cast my eyes around, and behold
no one so fit to preside over my house as your
sister-in-law."
A long and very deep sigh escaped from the
bosom of the jeweller. It arose, not so much
from grief, as from the anger he felt himself con-
strained to dissemble.
" I admire," he replied, as calmly as he was
able, '' the excellent motive that induces you to
56 THE FALL OF
endeavour to tie the silken knot. But have
you considered how many other connexions you
might form of greater utiHty to your interests ?"
" I have considered this, cousin, and have
resolved to punish myself for my long neglect
of the ordinances. I seek, with the lady, but
the hundred pounds weight of silver she de-
posited with you, and a reasonable interest for
the same. A friend will calculate for me to
what it should amount."
''The vile calumnies of my enemies have
deceived you. The lady Maohey came to my
house as the pigeon issues from its shell," Kao-
pingte replied, his apprehension bringing forth
upon his forehead a copious perspiration.
'* Were this true, cousin, it would be indecent
to send her to my house in the same state as
she entered yours. Surely you have feathers
sufficient to deck the bride of your father's
brother's son. What wealth have you not got
here ? You must be rich as the governor of
Yunnan's son."^*®
''You deceive yourself," said the agitated
jeweller. "No ascetic hermit of the hills has
less than I. Beyond what you see, I have not
an ounce of silver."
THE NAN SOUNG. 57
" Your tongue is impure ; you would lie to
the nearest relative you possess. But it is
vainly you utter falsehoods ; you cannot deceive
toe. As easily might you seek to throw dust
into my eyes, or place cotton in my ears, as
pursue in a trading junk, during a ealm,
a fisher's boat that flies over the water im-
pelled by a score of sweeps. It is scarce two
months since the year began, when you and
your fellows, engaged in the low pursuits of
commerce, collect your debts from ten thousand
different sources, until you amass a heap of
wealth that might excite the envy of your
governors, were not their minds too pure to
covet your wretched gains."
" On the day of the new year, not a goose-eye
coin crossed my hand to diminish the heavy
losses I had sustained," said Kaopingte. " It
was vain that I sent my collectors round ; they
were as dishonest as my debtors. To one I
sent them to cry in his door-way until they
should obtain payment ; but the rogue provided
them rice and wine, and their voices proclaimed
not his infamy to his neighbours.* Another
* Vide De Guignes, iii. 126.
D 3
58 THE FALL OF
burnt his house two days before the new year,
and I could claim nothing.* 1 sent my servants
to bear off the entrance door of a third's house,
so that the evil spirits might have uninterrupted
passage ;t but the wretch laughed at me, for
with one-half that he ow^ed me he had pur-
chased a large Menshin,^^^ gigantic idol, that
drives away misfortune, which he placed in his
hall, the most efficacious of precautions against
malevolent genii. The fourth, the wretch came
to me with a cord, and threatened, unless I
relieved him from every obligation, and further,
gave him a sum of money to release his
own and family's clothes from pawn, that he
would, the very eve of the festival, hang himself
to the ensign post before my door, and write on
the ground beneath that my harshness had
driven him to desperation. He was an ob-
stinate villain, and capable of executing his
menace, Avhich would have exposed me to the
charge of being accessory to his death. J But
the severest blow I received was the absconding
of the head of one of the ten families, for whom
I am Tisiang, or responsible representative,
* Vide De Guignes, iii. 128. f Ibid., iii. 127.
t Ibid.
THE NAN SOUNG. 69
and, together with the remaining eight, I had
to make good the defaulter's debts. Oh, if I
had only suspected his design, how I would
have watched ! Not a cat should have put its
head outside his house, but I would have
caught it by the whiskers !"
During this long narration of grievances,
Kaohe had been engaged examining the various
objects exposed for sale. As his relative ceased
speaking, he turned to him, and said —
«' Kaopingte, I have already told you of the
proud place to which a just appreciation of my
abilities has advanced me. I am chief secretary
to an embassy, which, if successful, will not only
render the empire happy, but confer a particular
delight upon the dwellers in the yellow palace.
The outrage to the dragon committed on the
lake has doubtless reached your ears ?''
"I am a man, in general, of but small in-
formation ; but when the sun disappears in the
heavens, I can notice the prodigy with my fel-
lows. It is but little that I know ; but things
of such importance reach me," rej^lied Kao-
pingte, well pleased at the conversation being
changed. " Firstly, my weak faculties are as-
tounded when I hear that a meeting of the
60 THE FALL OF
Pelienkia has taken place, intending to have
thrown the universe into confusion, and then,
that all were arrested by the officers of justice.
Again, the report said these were innocent men
diverting themselves at a festival, but calum-
niated by a high criminal who desired, by some
pretended service to the state, to save himself
from the punishment he merited for some crime.
Whilst all men were wondering at this, we hear
that a lady of the empire has been carried oflP;
but the tales are so numerous, that it is impos-
sible for human understanding to discern which
is the true relation of the event."
" Cousin, it is fortunate for you that you
possess a relative having both the power and
the inclination to instruct you in the truth.
Linpeytsin, a lady of the empire, though a bar-
barian by birth, went to divert herself upon the
Sihu, in company with a daughter of a disgraced
member of the imperial council. As night came
on, some wretched rebels, disguised as Tatars,
attacked the imperial barge, seized the ladies,
without caring to touch anything that layabout,
and have borne them towards the north. One
of the robbers, having fallen from his horse,
was injured so as not to be able to accompany
THE NAN SOUNG. 61
the Others. Him a vaHant officer arrested,
and he says, himself and comrades were in the
pay of Ahama, the chief minister of the Tatar
ruler."
" Infinite are my obligations to you for having
enlightened my mind," said KaojDingte, right
happy that the disagreeable conversation con-
cerning the marriage and dowry had ceased.
But his contentment was not destined to last
long.
*' You now may apj)reciate," said Kaohe, *' the
importance of the post I fill, as chief secretary
to an embassy whose objects are to restore
peace to the empire, and recover one who has
sought protection at the footstool of the dragon
throne. If I proceed, without being attired in
the splendour requisite to awe barbarian minds,
failure would attend the mission, and disgrace
be upon my name, which is also that of your
family. If I wear robes of appropriate richness,
a shadow of the master's wealth and power will
appear as though reflected on the slave, success
will attend the embassy, and honour be attached
to our family name. You surely must admit
this."
" Would you pardon me if I dijQfered from
0*4 THE FALL OF
you ? The barbarians would conceive but a bad
idea of the order estabhshed in the empire if a
subordinate officer should equal or surpass in
magnificence his superior. Besides, is not the
costume you must wear already determined by
the rites ?" replied Kaopingte, again agitated
with apprehension.
'' Thou art ignorant of the laws that govern
the minds of barbarians. To them the ob-
servance of laws appears as the effects of fear.
On my person they must gaze with the same
awe as though I were a spirit. To effect this,
cousin, I require money, which, for your own
and your family's honour, you must furnish me.
I have rudely calculated the value of what is
here at two thousand taels. You say you have
not with you one ounce of silver ; therefore, it
will be necessary to sell the one tenth of this to
a friend of mine.''
Poor Kaopingte ! he felt at that moment as
though some one had seized him by the throat,
and had nearly throttled him. So cool a demand
for so large a sum was worse than the forcible
abstraction of an equal number of drops of his
heart's blood. With a desperate effort, he
THE NAN SOUNG. 63
affected to consider what his cousin said as in-
tended in tlie way of a joke, and repHed —
" Truly, my noble relative, but your mode of
diverting yourself is a severe trial to one's
equanimity. Ten thousand taels would hardly
purchase the various articles around."
"Listen to the man of deceit!" exclaimed
Kaohe, with off"ended virtue. "But just now,
he had not an ounce of silver, and at present he
is worth ten thousand taels !"
" Ten thousand taels ! I meant it not literally.
It was but a figure of speech by which I inferred
your valuation was too low."
" Oh, Tyen !" exclaimed Kaohe, elevating his
eyes, as though in horror at his cousin's false-
hood,— " is it possible thou canst permit a man
to prosper whose tongue is as defiled as that of
this unfortunate and miserable wretch ? Kao-
pingte," he continued, addressing his relative,
" will you give unto me presently one hundred
taels, and promise me your sister-in-law, with
her property, or will you receive, as punishment
for the many misdemeanors you have com-
mitted, twenty blows of the pantsay ?"
"It is an exaction — it is an impudent rob-
64 THE FALL OF
bery !" cried the jeweller. "I will appeal to
the emperor. I will beat the drum !"
Kaohe paid but little attention to the various
modes that his cousin enumerated, by which he
would seek protection and revenge, but pro-
ceeding to the door, made a signal to two tall,
powerful executioners to enter, each of whom
carried a bamboo rod. As they appeared,
Kaohe regarded his cousin, to see if the latter's
resolution were shaken ; but the danger to
which his beloved taels were exposed, had
roused all his energy, and he stood, in a
menacing attitude, pouring forth threats of de-
nouncement.
" Hear him !" said Kaohe, addressing his at-
tendants. " It is thus he uses an inspector of
the market. He cheats me in what I would
purchase, and then dares to apply to me such
abuse as this. Deal the wretch a score of
blows."
Kaopingte, though prevented by his passion
from listening to what his cousin said, yet com-
prehended the object of the executioners, when
he saw them advance towards him, and fled to
the private rooms of his house, intending to
take refuge in the chambers of his women.
THE NAN SOUNG. 65
where he -would have been safe, except on an
order from a superior magistrate ; but he was
not quick enough for those who pursued him.
A heavy hand was laid upon his shoulder, and
the next instant he was cast upon his faec.
A yell escaped from the lungs of Kaopingte
as the first blow descended upon him, so loud
as to attract the momentary attention of the
dealers in the square ; but it was only that they
should utter some coarse joke upon his suffer-
ing, and not one, perhaps, of all the multitude,
felt for him the smallest commiseration, for
scarce one had not, in his time, experienced a
" paternal correction." Such is the term given
to the punishment of twenty blows.
*' In the name of the son of heaven, I claim
the remission of the fifth stroke/'* shrieked the
jeweller.
"Grant the wretch the favour, but not the
grace. Wield your bamboos with redoubled
strength," said Kaohe to the executioner whose
heavy cane waved in the air.
" Oh, Tyen ! Assist me, Chekoua !^^ Have
pity, good men ! Your bamboos shall be
* Vide Du Halde, ii. 133 ; Barrow, 381.
66 THE FALL OF
weighed against silver," Kaopingte screamed,
half suffocated by the weight of him who sat
upon his head and shoulders, and who now, as
the first four blows had been dealt, rose to
change places with his comrade.
" Wretched man," said Kaohe, addressing his
cousin, " will you restore me my spouse, my
property, and the hundred taels you have sought
to rob me of?"
" The lady — yes ; but the other, I swear by
heaven and by earth, I have not.''
Kaohe made a signal, and the punishment
recommenced. Before the second blow had
been dealt^ the avarice of Kaopingte was van-
quished, and he cried —
" The hundred taels are yours."
" And my other property, the hundred pounds
of pure silver ?" said Kaohe, as the executioners,
at a sign from him, suspended the beating.
" I have it not, but "
The blows again descended. Kaopingte could
no longer endure the pain, and cried —
" The hundred pounds of silver shall also
be yours. Have mercy, noble cousin, or I
die !"
*' Foolish man," said Kaohe, as the execu-
THE NAN SOUNG. 67
tioners released their victim and retired, "were
it not better to have yielded to my reasonable
demands, than to have compelled me to beat
the flesh and bones of our common grandfather
into one mass ? I hope, however, these violent
men were more merciful than my stern duty
permitted me to be."
Kaopingte replied not to the rather taunting
inquiries of his relative, but, breathless and ex-
hausted, cast himself into a chair, where he felt
not so much inconvenience as might have been
expected, for the number of blows he had re-
ceived did not amount to half a score, and they
had been dealt more lightly than Kaohe had
intended ; for the large offers of the merchant
had excited the cupidity of the executioners.
" I condole with you in all sincerity ; but,"
Kaohe continued, as the echo of tlie hours
beaten by the watchmen on the drum at the
nearest bridge now was heard, — " listen. The
time glides by, and the embassy leaves the city
in three days. If I have as much trouble in
purchasing as I have had in collecting the
means of payment, I should not be equipped in
a month. Cousin, hasten the production of the
hundred taels."
68 THE FALL OF
" A hundred taels !" replied Kaopingte, who
had now recovered his breath. "It is a large
sum. Where can I procure it T'
" Cousin, do you take me for the genius of your
house, that I am to tell you where your coffers
be ? Quicken your own recollection, and forget
not, one half the punishment you deserve has
not been dealt. Surely, for one who employs
forty workmen, it is no great sum to have at
hand. You stir not ; then I call the ministers
of the law."
" Stay ! I recollect. May I follow you into
my private apartment ?" exclaimed the mer-
chant, hastily, when he perceived his cousin ad-
vancing towards the door. Kaohe complied
with the invitation, and entered with Kaopingte
the latter's private room of business.
Slowly the jeweller opened the drawer of a
high chest, in which lay a quantity of pieces of
dark paper, each covered with various signa-
tures, and stamped in the centre with the royal
arms in vermilion. These were notes^" of
various value, the reception of which none
could refuse for the amounts inscribed upon
them, and which, by being presented at the
THE NAN SOUNG. 69
royal mint, could be exchanged for bullion.
Still more slowly he counted them forth, pausing
at every fresh enumeration of ten taels, and
gazing in a dej^recatory manner into the coun-
tenance of his relative ; but its inexorable cast
of features gave him but little hope. The
hundredth was at last told, and Kaohe, as he
collected them together and put them under his
vest, said —
" Cousin, I hope you have acted by me
honestly. If these be wanting the smallest
fraction of the sum, I shall reckon harshly with
you. Farewell."
And Kaohe quitted the jeweller, who, as he
departed, mechanically saluted him.
As soon as his relative was out of Ijearing,
the suppressed rage of Kaopingte burst forth.
" Rascal ! — robber ! Doomed to pass through
the hole of infamy ! I will inform your superiors ;
you shall be beaten — branded ! For what are
the higher tribunals established, but for the
correction of the imperial wolves and tigers ?
Oh, Tyen, what fortune thou hast prepared this
day for me ! Loss of property ! — bodily pain !
Of what avail is the long prosperity thou hast
70 THE FALL OF
accorded me, if now thou dost abandon me ?
Guardian spirits, is there one of you that has
a temple in which I have not burnt silver paper ?
Is there one of you whose priests have not re-
ceived liberal gratuities from me to intercede
with you in my favour ? Think you that I am
a worm, to feel extraordinarily grateful for the
sunshine, and not to heed when I be crushed ?
Water, though the humblest of the elements —
for it flows ever in search of lowly places — yet is
enraged and rises against the heavens when
their winds strike it rudely. If a stone be but
flung into the dragon lake of the mountain
Tienlu,^^^ the waters rise in a storm. Tremble,
Ticam, tutelary god of my house ! I come to
you, not to light incense before your altar, but
to punish you for the careless protection you
have afibrded me."
As Kaopingte uttered this threat to his
household divinity, he hastily closed the en-
trance of his shop, and entered the private
rooms of his house, calling to his servants to
bring him cords and bamboos to the chapel, or
rather the room he had dedicated to his favourite
god, Ticam.
On a table of precious wood sat the obese
THE NAN SOUNG. 71
divinity, cross-legged. It was about two feet in
height, and of cast metal, richly gilt. In its
right hand it held a sceptre, its left rested on
its knee, partially concealing a purse ; for his
power was conceived to extend over all hidden
treasures as well as the pursuits of commerce.
Four other lesser divinities, servants of the
superior, likewise gilt, stood around him in
reverent postures.
" Dull, stupid Ticam !" exclaimed Kaopingte,
as he stood before his divinity ; '' you have ears
to listen to my prayers, nostrils to enjoy the
odour of the sweet aloe wood I burn before you,
but your hands move not to protect me.
Tremble, indolent deity, without will to assist
your votaries, your hour of punishment is come !
See," he continued, as he took a bamboo cane
from the hands of one of his servants, and in
as many blows overturned the four minor gods
that stood by the superior, — '•' see, the punish-
ment I award your refractory spirits, that pre-
ferred standing idly by you, to informing you
of the misfortunes that overtook me. You have
grown too fat upon the essence of the offerings
I have made you. You shall be made acquainted
with suffering, shall endure want, that you may
72 THE FALL OF
the better aj^preciate the fervent and Hberal
charity with which I have hitherto supported
you. False god ! — ungrateful guest !" And
Kaopingte continued to rebuke the idol as he
poured upon it a succession of blows, which the
deity bore with the most unrepining resignation.
At last, fatigued with the violence of his ex-
ercise, the merchant called for cords, which he
affixed to the body of his fat god.
" Weep," continued the merchant. '' Weep,
for forth you go from my house, to be cast into
the yard. There you will alike be unsheltered
from the dew, the heat, and the cold. There
shall you lie until your shivering nights and
feverish days work re23entance in your obdurate
soul."
As this address was concluded, the unfor-
tunate god was dragged down from its seat, out
of the chapel, and, as its worshipper had
menaced, into the court of the house.
" Lay there, foolish Ticam," said Kaopingte,
as he took in his hands some earth, which he
smeared over the face and into the mouth of
his deity. " Taste that ; it is your only food
until my improved fortune shall manifest your
repentance ; and be quick, if you wish to escape
THE NAN SOUNG. 73
the diurnal beating I will visit upon you. Ex-
perience now what shall be your treatment each
alternate day." And the merchant recom-
menced his flagellation, which he ceased at
length from fatigue, and then re-entered his
house, his mind considerably tranquillized by
the notable way in which he had vented the
passion that had excited him.
VOL. II.
74 THE FALL Of
CHAPTEE V.
Keader, it is a long and a distant flight you
now must undertake^ but not a tedious one ;
the poet's steed shall bear you ; of a glorious
and bright race is that noble horse; his sire
was Thought, his dam was Fancy — he was foaled
in fairy-land — the Muses trained his early paces,
and the spirit of morning dreams rode his first
career. Fear him not, though his course be
rapid as the passage of a ray of light. The
blind and the halt have bestridden him, for he is
a generous and a gentle animal. You mount.
Now then, away ! The lake Sihu lies far be-
hind, dwindled in the distance to the size of a
silver coin. The walls, dwellings, pagodas, and
watch-towers of the *' terrestrial paradise," as
THE NAN SOUNG. 75
its citizens love to term their town of Hanclieyu,
are confused together. Regard them not ; they
will rest in peace till we return. The province
of Chekiang is still beneath us, intersected with
myriads of streams and canals, and green with
its regularly planted groves of mulberry, just
budded into leaf. Far to the right is the
Chinese sea, dotted with its innumerable isles.
We are now above Kiangnan, but cannot dis-
tinguish even the hum of the voices of its in-
habitants, who esteem themselves the most
intelligent and apt for study of all the people
of the empire, and whose soil can scarce support
the multitude that claim from it subsistence, so
that even the sepulchres of the dead are invaded
for the grass and herbs that grow rank amid
the tombs. Yon broad river is the Yantsekiang,
and the speck upon its surface is the Kinshan,
the golden island ; at times, the residence of
emperors, saints, and sages. We cannot pause
to let you count its palaces, its temples, and its
monasteries, nor to relate how often it has stood
between the rival armies of the Chinese and the
invading Tatar hosts, nor how often the last have
passed beneath it, thanks to the cowardice or
treachery of their opponents ; nor how once a
£ 2
76 THE FALL OF
sovereign/^' the haughtiest, and who esteemed
himself the most potent monarch in the world,
fled past it in breathless haste and panic-
stricken, accomj^anied by but a very few of his
courtiers, to the opposi.te town of Tkangkiang.
We cannot show you — for we are too distant —
where, to the left, thread-like rises the famed
pagoda of Nanking. The yellow waters of the
Hoangho are below us. Our flight is now over
Shantong, the province famous as the birth-place
of sages. The long level track before us is the
province of Petchely, and those blue mountains
far in the distance are of Tatary, and that
knotted line that at times appears upon their
summits, and at times is lost as it sinks into
the valleys, is the famous wall of China, called
by its builders the " wall of ten thousand lee."
Forgive us, reader, if neither words nor pen
could keep pace with the horse you have ridden.
You are arrived, long before our lagging de-
scription of the territory we have crossed had
closed, in the town of Cambalu, situate near to,
if not upon, the site of the present Pekin, and
the new capital that Kublai, the Tatar emperor
has erected for himself and the new dynasty he
contemplates to found. We are in the women's
THE NAN SOUNG. 77
apartments of Ahama's palace, the finance and
prime minister of the Mogul sovereign. Fear
not the eunuch guards, who with naked sabres
watch around. You are invisible to them, and
besides, those grim and prematurely aged coun-
tenances are but the shadows of substance
long since mouldered into dust. A droj) from
the author's pen, the true elixir of immortality,
has fallen upon the ashes into which time had
consumed the men and things of other ages,
and behold they become skeletons. The bones
are covered with muscle, and the stage is crowded
with actors, the sound of whose buskin it
almost had forgotten.
Reader, you may perhaps remember an inter-
view, in the first volume of this our tale, between
the eunuch Tkinkoan and the Tatar Moho
Niyan, the Mogul envoy to Kyatsetao, to confirm
the last, by hopes of assistance, in the treason
he meditated; of the means that the eunuch
employed to produce a breach between the
minister and ambassador ; of the list of grandees
discontented with Kyatsetao, that the Tatar was
to dispatch to his sovereign, and the portrait
of Luseynah that was intended for Ahama, so
that the ambition of the monarch and the
78 THE FALL OF
amative propensities of his adviser might be
united, to hasten the catastrophe which was
certain to insure the ruin of Tkinkoan's hated
enemy.
Ahama was visiting the southern portions of
Kiangnan, that had lately been reduced by the
Moguls, apportioning the amount of taxation
to each district, when he received the missives
directed to him. As soon as he gazed upon
the portrait, in which department of the art of
painting the Chinese are particularly successful,
all his Arab blood was inflamed, even more
hotly than the donor had anticipated, to possess
the fair original. It was not difl&cult for him
to engage a party of miscreant Chinese, who for
a large reward undertook to carry the lady off,
in which we have seen them succeed. Finding
two females in the imperial barge, Luseynah
and her Corean friend, Linpeytsin, they had
seized them both, to avoid the possibility of a
mistake, and after a month's journey, had con-
ducted their captives to the capital of northern
China, whither their employer had preceded
them.
The room in which Luseynah sat, in company
with her friend, was richly furnished, displaying
THE NAN SOUNG. 79
the wealth the Moguls had robbed, not from
one, but from a hundred nations. The sofa on
which they sat was from India, the cushions
that composed it being covered with red and
purple leather, and worked in gold thread,* as
was also the carpet that was from the looms of
Persia. The oil that burnt in the lamps, diffus-
ing a grateful perfume around, had been taken
from Arabian merchants in Syria ; the lamps
themselves were of Hindoo manufacture, and
were suspended from the ceiling by chains, the
rings of ^hich were of cornelian, strengthened
with fine bands of gold, and enriched with dia-
monds and rubies, that sparkled brightly as
they reflected the light. In fine, from the
moulding of the door to the paint on the face
of the old lady, mistress of the harem, there
was something to remind one in turn of each
country into which the Mogul arms had pene-
trated.
Luseynah seemed dejected, but it was not
from the fatigue of travel ; for her conductors
had rendered her journey as easy as possible.
Linpeytsin was endeavouring to console her.
♦ M. Polo, 691.
80 THE FALL OF
"Bid the sunbeams," said the Corean, whose
blue eye was as radiant and beamed as full of
animation as when first we met her on the
" granite hills," — " bid the sunbeams of hope
to enliven your mind. Why shroud your soul
with the dark curtain of despair ?"
" Of what horrid ingratitude will not my
father consider me guilty," replied the Chinese.
'' Sister, I left him in a dungeon. I know not
whether he has been restored to his honours, or
if his enemies have prevailed beyond all hope.
My heart is wearied with the workings of my
spirit to return to my father's side."
" Better," said the lady of the harem, in very
indifferent Chinese, — " better is it to be the
favourite of him who, after God and the emperor
of the north, can effect more in the universe
than the united powers of the whole south. If
you become the favourite of the harem — and
you may, for your eyes are soft, your hair is
dark, and your complexion delicate — if you do
become the favourite of the harem, you will
have no cause to regret an effeminate sire of
Manjin,^^* whose muscles are too delicate to
permit him to defend his child. Tell me,
daughter, what are yoiu: accomplishments ? Can
THE NAN SOQNG. 81
you dance ? Can you sing, or play upon any
musical instrument ? I remember me once of
a beauty of your nation who ruled everything
here. She played divinely upon the guitar,
and my lord often diverted himself with her;
but at length he became disgusted with her, for
she breathed heavily in her sleep, ^^^ so he
married her to one of his grooms. A noble
match for one like her, who never in her own
countr}^ had dared to aspire to anything above
a penman. Tell me, daughter, is it true that
the men in your country learn to write ; that
in place of arms they use brushes; attempt
to repel an invasion by a proclamation, and
oppose to the northern cavalry horsemen painted
upon paper ? How I laughed when my nephew
told me this : a fine youth, who fought last
autumn under Chinsan Beyan. You know that
name, do you not, lady ? He is a great general ;
but since he commands the Moguls, the ferocity
of their attack is not half so feared. Their
battles are but become sights that the nations
behold without dread, as our people the combats
of the aerial spirits in the northern skies. '^^
They say that some of your people have lately
found courage to resist ; but if he have the
E 3
82 THE FALL OF
misfortune of being tender- hearted, he must
not be rej^roacbed, for he is not of Alancoua's
brood.* He comes from the west, where they
say the people malve war, that they may become
prisoners of their neighbours, who feed them
well, and restore them to their country when
war is over. Is not that an excellent mode
of fighting ? Ridiculous. I laugh ; I who have
seen a city of the west, that the people termed
Bamiam,^^^ where neither man nor beast were
spared ; and when our conquering army left
the smoking walls, they bestowed upon them
the name of ' city of desolation ;' and when the
sons of Oktai invaded the kingdom of Hia,
scarce two out of a hundred remained alive, till
the plains were covered with the dead, and the
forests and hills crowded with starving fugi-
tives.f Ah ! it was our noble emperor Genghis
who held your people at their full value. His
Yassa^^^ ordained that the murder of a Tazik^^
should be expiated by forty pieces of gold,
whilst the life of a man of Manjin was taxed at
but an ass." % Here the old lady, who did not
observe the repugnance depicted on the coun-
* Vide Note 27. t Vide De Mailla, ix. 118.
X His. des Mon. ii. 96.
THE NAN SOUNG. 83
tenances of her auditors, paused, breathless from
her long harangue, and from havmg spoken in
a language with which she was not familiar.
Neither Luseynah nor her friend cared to
reply to the garrulous old lady; and as she
concluded her discourse, the first addressed the
second in the common language of the province
of Chekiang, that differs considerably from the
court or language of the literati, which is spoken
in its greatest purity in the province of Kiang-
nan, and she said, with surjorise and dismay in
her tone — "Dost hear, Linpeytsin, the words
of the wretched hag ? Can it be possible that
my evil fortune has fated me to become the
concubine of a barbarian ? — I, the daughter of
Luseufu, whose ancestors for generations have
been magnates, whose family vaunts in its
ancestral hall a hundred names, recorded for
their virtue and their talents !"
'* Be calm," replied the Oorean. " Sister, place
less faith in your ideas of fate, and be assured
that whatever happens, is intended but to reward
the merits or demerits of ourselves or ancestors.
The spirits, by prayers, or offerings, or a virtuous
conduct, easily are prevailed upon to change
the harshness of their awards; and sister^ we
84 THE FALL OF
will pray. If our entreaties be not heard, there
is a steel bodkin in my hair, its blade has been
steeped in a subtle poison. It shall be yours,
and you never shall defile your illustrious
descent."
"Thanks," said Luseynah, " but the girdle I
wear at my waist is a more feminine instrument
of self-destruction : a knot tied with that is
more indissoluble than one with the silken
thread of Hymen." And she laughed, but it
was to prevent the thought she expressed from
betraying itself on her countenance, for the
lady of the harem, during their short dialogue,
had edged her chair nearer to the speakers,
listening attentively and suspiciously, but vainly,
to every word, attempting to assist herself by
watching the features of the two. Satisfied that
something had been said, in the secret of which
she was not desired to be a participator, she
observed, in a testy tone —
"You ladies of the south speak as many
tongues as there are shades in a pigeon's neck ;
but you will soon learn that there is but one '
permitted within the walls of my lord Ahama's
palace, and that is obedience ; I would instruct
you in your first lesson now, only that as yet
THE NAN SOUNG. 86
you are not placed under my jurisdiction. When
you are, you will learn that Khatun-i-gurun is
not to be treated with disrespect. You meditate
perhaps some cunning trick, but you will find
such games here are but rough pastime. Many
fairer faces than yours have been slapped with
a slipper, and many more delicate shoulders
marked with the bamboo cane. How many
questions did I not ask you, and to which have
you replied ? When my lord asks me, Can the
new women sing, can they dance ? must I
stand before him as nobody, as one that knows
nothing — must my tongue be dumb because
of you ? It has not been dumb when it had the
power to speak for many years, and it shall not
be now, either of you shall discover to her cost.
But you are ignorant ; you are not yet acquainted
with the power I possess. It is I who can
prefer you to my lord's bed, or it is I who can
close the door of the bridal chamber for ever
against you. On my report, you may be placed
among the ladies of the first order, or your con-
ditions may be rendered worse than that of the
meanest female slave. Now that you know who
I am, will you tell me — you with the dark and
downcast eyes — of what accomplishments you
86 THE FALL OF
are mistress ? You had best reply, for even in
your country you must have heard of thumb-
screws."
Scarce, during this angry ebulhtion, could
the signs or muttered entreaties of Luseynah
prevail upon her friend to be silent, and not to
commit herself with the proud and hasty reply
her independent temperament suggested; for
though she be our heroine, we must confess
that the Chinese had learnt much of the dis-
simulation that marks her country-people's
character. As a child, the Chinese is educated
in two principles — national pride and submission
to his parents, and those who represent them
in the body politic. In after years, these senti-
ments become converted into arrogance towards
his inferiors and affected humility towards
his superiors ; and the latter affords ample
lessons in deception from the necessity that so
frequently occurs of concealing one's actual
dispositions.
*' Kkatun-i-gurun," said Luseynah, addressing
the angr}^ lady in conciliatory tones, "have
patience with us, for we are strange to the
habits of your people. I knew not, before you
spoke, the fate to which I am destined, and
THE NAN SOUNG. 87
expressed my surprise to my companion in the
language most natural to my feelings, that of
my own province. I hasten now to reply to
your demands. My accompHshments are but
small: I can read and write each of the five
characters, have studied history, and can sing
words of my own to the flute."
" Sorry accomjDlishments truly, and you do
well to enumerate them so modestly," observed
Khatun-i-gurun, contemptuously. " As to the
characters, one is sufficient for a man ; what the
women of your country want with five, I know
not. I remember when one of the Tazik princes
had been chased from his empire, one of his
penmen offered his services to our grand khan,
Genghis ; the very first missive he wrote cost
him his head.'^ The reading may be better,
especially if you know Persic or Arabic. I have
heard wondrous pleasant tales told in the books
of either. History is well enough for a nation
that desires to remember the glories its fathers
have won, but yours has nothing of this kind.
It is vain to keep the annals of a people that
have no deeds of valour to commemorate."
" You forget," said Luseynah, proudly, '' that
the fathers of the Moguls were formerly slaves
88 THE FALL OF
of Hiongnu, who were subjects of the em-
pire."
'* I have heard that there be those who say
such things, but I ever knew them to be untrue,
and say wdth my nephew, that that page of
falsehood condemns every history as fit but for
the fire. Think you that the Moguls, whose
power is bounded but by the rim of the round
earth — think you they would ever consent to be
the last link of a chain of slavery. If this be
all your history teaches, you had better have
learnt somewhat more useful. And you, lady,"
continued Khatun-i-gurun, addressing Linpeyt-
sin, "has your instruction been equally vain ?
Have you learnt nothing that renders you of
greater value to him who may command your
charms ?"
'' What I have learnt has been less noble,
but more useful for those who wish to be
mothers of offspring whose hands may assist in
freeing the earth from your robber-bands," the
Corean replied ; '' for me, I can ride, draw a
bow, and even could wield a sabre, though a
woman, in the holy cause."
*•' Admirable accomplishments ! " exclaimed
Khatun-i-gurun. '' Surely, daughter, you will
THE NAN SOUNG. 89
become chief favourite ; and remember me when
my predictions be reaHzed. Kide ! Ay, that is
truly an exercise becoming a woman desirous
of being the mother of a warrior race. Once
our women rode, and our nobles loved them
for their manly spirit; but now our grandees
seek the women of Persia, with their soft and
luxurious manners, or of India, or of Georgia,
or of your country, and they must know how to
sing, to dance, and to read. Ah, the manners
of the people are much changed, and surely the
spirits of their ancestors will send upon them
some affliction. Formerly, our chiefs were rich
when their stud consisted of three-score horses,
their herds of five hundred head, and their folds
enclosed five thousand sheep ; and esteemed
themselves nobly caparisoned when in a suit
of chain armour, with a full quiver, and a bow
of horn, and when the skull of some once mighty
foe was the proudest drinking vessel of a chief;
being gilt within and bound with leather round
the rim, so that the warrior might not kiss his
enemy as he drank ; and whenever a stranger
visited the tents, the way that trophy had been
won was proudly related to him.^" Now, they
esteem themselves by the quantity of gold and
90 THE FALL OF
silver they possess, and by their habits of cloth
of gold, of silk, and of velvet. They are
enervated, and will soon be as your unwarlike
people of the south. Formerly, when they went
to war, they cared but to make slaves, drive off
cattle, and stain their weapons of a crimson hue.
Then, they preserved the manners of their
fathers. When our khan of khans first invaded
the country of the Tazik, the precious jewels
that adorned the persons of the slain were left
to the peasants;* and when the emperor of
the Kin sent him a present of pearls, he dis-
tributed them to such of his foreign officers as
wore earrings, or would have their ears bored for
such ornaments. Alas! their manners are be-
coming those of women."
" Happier would it be for the nations around
them if it were so," observed Linpeytsin, in
reply; who then addressed Luseynah, "Weep
not, sister; have more faith in the justice of
heaven. Three hundred good acts,^®^ Laotsy has
written, will cause a man to receive the reward
of immortality, being ranked among the lesser
spirits. Surely you who have never committed
♦ Vide His. des Mongols, p. 264.
THE NAN SOUNG. 91
any crime, may be assured of the protection of
Tyen. Have confidence, which is the sentiment
that assures success aHke to the warrior and
the sage."
The latter part of the Corean's address was
uttered in the language of the province of Che-
kiang, which again excited the suspicions and
anger of Khatun-i-gurun, who in no measured
terms expressed her discontent ; but perceiving
that her charges, heedless of her ire, still con-
tinued to converse in the forbidden tongue, the
old lady considered that it would be a prudent
punisliment to banish either to her chamber for
the night, which she did, summoning a number
of female slaves, who accompanied each to her
apartment. In that of the Chinese, a pastille
composed of opiate drugs had been burnt, and
scarce had she thrown the coverlet over her,
than she sank in sleep.
92 THE FALL OF
CHAPTER VT,
It was midnight, and still Ahama sat amid his
secretaries auditing accounts, and despatching
various acts relative to public business. The
pile of papers that had heaped the tables
gradually had disappeared. Some his assistants
examined ; these were generally petitions for
local improvements, or the subscribers desired
to be relieved from some abuse. Some the
minister threw aside, after cursorily reading the
superscription ; they were mostly prayers from
soldiers or servants of the government, begging
that some recompence might be accorded for
their past services. Some few he read, and
they were principally financial projects, indicat-
ing where tributes could be commodiously
THE NAN SOUNG. 93
raised, or provincial wealthy grandees who
could aflbrd a squeezing at imperial hands.
The minister appeared not so much fatigued
with his labour as troubled to keep his atten-
tion fixed upon his occupation. At times, his
eye would gaze upon a character, but his mind
reflected not what that figure conveyed. He
felt heated — a thousand pulses seemed vibrating
just beneath the cuticle of all parts of his body,
and he moved, at times, uneasily in his seat;
but it was the excitement of his mind, not his
posture, that made him feel thus inconvenienced.
He was nervously impatient to terminate the
labour before him, which he could not leave,
for in a few days the Mogul emperor left his
capital for Shangtu,* where he was accustomed
to reside during the summer months. The
last of the papers was at length beneath his
hands. He gazed upon the suijerscription : it
was from the south. Scarce had he opened it
to peruse its contents, than his attention, that
before had wandered, became rivetted. It was
a despatch announcing the approach of a
Chinese einbassy, bearing most favourable offers
to the Mogul court, and also demands for the
* Vide chap. viii.
94 THE FALL OF
restoration of the ladies Linpeytsin and Ln-
seynah.
It was not the first of these objects that
caused Ahama to lay back in his seat, and bite
his lips as he thought. His mind imagined his
sovereign's curiosity excited concerning the
maidens, and requiring to behold them with
Asiatic despotism ; and then, if the emperor
should be as pleased with the beauty of the
Chinese as his minister had been, the latter
would be, more than probably, disgraced, for
having withheld from his sovereign so fair a
dame.
It was long he mused. Love and prudence
had a fierce struggle in his breast, until the
contest was decided in favour of the last, by an
idea that brought his avarice and ambition to
its succour, and he resolved to deprive himself
of the possession of the lady, and present her to
his sovereign. And he flattered himself that
such a gift would be well repaid by increased
influence to himself over the imperial mind, and
he hurriedly traced an order that the Chinese
embassy should be received with all honour ;
for he conceived that Kublai would feel still
greater gratitude when he should learn that the
THE NAN SOUNG, 96
object which his minister had voluntarily re-
nounced, for the purpose of affording him
gratification, was of sufficient imj)ortance to in-
cite the Chinese court to a special embassy for
its recovery, which motive, he felt assured, he
would easily deceive the emperor into believing
was the only one of the Chinese envoys.
The order was despatched, the secretaries
dismissed, and Ahama continued to sit ponder-
ing on the admirable piece of policy he had re-
solved upon.
" Yes," he said, as his thoughts became too
excited to be controlled within his bosom, —
*' yes, in full assembly shall they claim the
women, and the emperor of the north will ap-
preciate the sacrifice I have made for him. He
loves a downy cheek, after his gold, better than
anything in creation : he surely will sacrifice
some of the last, however, to reward him who has
procured him the first ? Ahama, thou wilt be
thy sovereign's personal friend, as thou art now
his financial. What a rock of security will this
not afford thee upon which to build thy fortunes !
How vainly will thy enemies, animated by envy,
assail thy dwelling that will touch the clouds ! —
their winds will prevail against thee but as the
90 THE FALL OF
blasts that assail the Mustag. The clouds of
care will be beneath thee, and on thy head shall
rest the sunshine of royal favour, that will know
no setting. It is thy hand that shall present to
the emperor of the north his most loved lady —
for she cannot fail to be otherwise, she seemed
so wondrous lovely in the portrait. Could that —
it is scarcely possible; it must be flattering ! It
is past the hour when I was to have gone to her
chamber. Khatun-i-gurun was to have pre-
pared all for a night of love. With what
maddening expectation, two hours since, I
looked forward to the present moment ! I am
as much a boy as when I left the tents, and,
wandering to a distance, that none might behold
my weakness, wept for the possession of some
beauty the story-teller had described, and which
had fired my imagination. I am now recovered :
I am again Ahama, with the cool judgment of a
man. I will approach the fair maid, and behold
if her charms be such as to render her an ac-
ceptable present to the sovereign of the universe.
If so, my blood is calm, and I would as soon
steal some paltry object as meditate ought
against her whose beauties are devoted to the
arms of the lord of the earth I"
THE NAN SOUNG. 97
Ahama arose from his seat, and, preceded by
a young eunuch with a gauze lantern, directed
his steps towards his women's apartments. As he
passed through the hirge and magnificent saloons
of his palace, the feeble light that accomj)anied
him was sufficient to display wealth, one-half of
which would have been enough to purchase the
territory of a kingdom. At last, he stood before
a gilded door, in the centre of which was a plate
of gold. This the attendant struck with a
hammer of the same metal, that had its handle
enriched with precious stones. The door flew
open, and two eunuchs fell prostrate on their
faces, saluting Ahama, and he entered the pre-
cincts of his harem. The minister, somewhat
doubtful of his powder to preserve his resolution,
deemed that it would be advisable to take with
him, on his visit, a companion, whose presence
would cause him to observe it, and, with this'
design, he directed that the lady of the harem
should be summoned to his presence.
Khatun-i-gurun had for some time retired to
her couch. Of what nature her dreams were, we
know not ; but when she awoke, she was not
less under delusion than when she slept. She
sat up ; she rubbed her eyes, and bit the ends
VOL. II. F
98 THE FALL OF
of her fingers, to assure herself she was not still
under the influence of the spirits of slumber,
and when she felt certain of that pleasant con-
viction, how nervously confused she became 1
With faculties not yet restored to their full sen-
sibilities, her mind decided the object of the
mandate to be what her heart, in its most am-
bitious moments, had never dared to hope — So
much honour. In truth, she felt confused.
She might have blushed, but as it was dark, the
eunuch could not have perceived the timid shade
as it mantled upon her cheek. The creature,
unlearned in the delicate emotions of female
minds, imagined the lady's confusion to arise
from being awakened from her slumbers.
Hurried was the toilette of Khatun-i-gurun.
In her haste, she applied red paint to one cheek,
and white to the other ; and anxious to please
her supposed and unexpected admirer, she
sought to arrange her attire as negligee as
possible, and then, with a palpitating heart,
proceeded where Ahama awaited her. Opening
the door, she placed her lantern at the threshold,
and, rushing across the room, enveloped her-
self in the curtains, as etiquette required from
the modesty of a new favourite.
THE NAN SOUNG. 99
Astonished at her conduct, the minister con-
sidered that his mistress of the harem was mad,
and, cautiously regarding in the direction where
the supposed maniac had concealed herself, so
that he might be prepared for any movement of
an angry paroxysm, he said, in a gentle tone —
'* Khatun-i-gurun, do you not know your
lord ? It is strange you thus obey him when
he has behests for your ear. Come forth, and
listen to me."
More than ever confirmed in her idea by the
bland address of Ahama, the lady of the harem
coyly replied —
'* My lord, the honour you confer ujDon your
slave is too great; she is unworthy of such dis-
tinction ; she dreads exposure to your illustrious
gaze."
In an instant, Ahama comprehended the
ridiculous mistake under which his mistress of
the harem laboured, and laughter struggled in
his bosom with anger at the momentary fear he
had permitted to influence him. Eepressing
either emotion — the first not without an efibrt —
he observed, somewhat sternly —
" Khatun-i-gurun, are you guilty of folly ?
What strange fancy has possessed you ? Come
F 2
100 THE FALL OF
forth, and accompany me to the chamber of the
Chinese."
The brightest vision Khatun-i-gurun had
ever contemplated vanished as this address met
her ear. A moment she was silent, and bit her
lip with disappointment, and then she said — the
ready wit of woman assisting her out of her
awkward dilemma —
" My lord Ahama, I scarcely dare present
myself before you. In my haste to obey your
summons, I have forgotten to place my pins in
my hair. As I entered the door, I remembered
the impropriety of my costume, and hurried to
conceal myself, fearing lest your fierce indigna-
tion should be excited,"
" Fear not," replied the minister. '* Ahama
is lenient towards such as err from their zeal to
serve him. Come forth, Khatun-i-gurun."
The mistress of the harem obeyed, and if the
minister had been inclined to laughter by her
conduct, the strangeness of her appearance so
provoked his risibility as no longer to be re-
strained, and he laughed with heartier mirth
than he had experienced many a long day.
With confusion on her contenance and in her
attitude, Khatun-i-gurun stood, willing, at that
THE NAN SOUNG. 101
moment, to have exchanged positions with the
meanest slave of the harem. At last, the
laughter of the minister had an end, and she
was partially relieved from her embarrassment
by Ahama directing her to accompany him.
A single lamp illumined the chamber of Lu-
seynah. The bed she reposed upon had its
posts covered with thin plates of gold. The
curtains that shadowed it were of the finest
gauze. Sound was the sleep that closed her
lids, for not the working of a muscle of her
countenance betokened that the dreams swayed
her thoughts.
'* The Chinese lady is fair," said Ahama, in a
low tone of voice, the tranquillity of which was
vastly in opposition to the turbulence that arose
in his bosom as he entered the apartment, in
which the silence that reigned, the perfumes
diffused, and the dim light, all conspired to
excite the sensual appetites of him who, except-
ing with regard to his sovereign, had long
ceased to acknowledge obedience to any other
dictates but those of his passions.
" She is sufficiently fair for my lord's diver-
sion," replied Khatun-i-gurun, who had now
become tranquillized. " Her eyes are dark ; her
102 THE FALL OF
complexion delicate ; her form is exquisite, and
her feet are not so odiously cramped as those of
her coLintrywomen. Then she speaks I know
not what number of languages, and writes all
the characters of the universe. She sings, and
I doubt not but that my lord would be pleased
to hear her, for her mouth is beautifully formed,
fit to give utterance to delightful sounds ; but
her companion, a lady superior in rank — — "
"Think you she would be an acceptable gift
to the ruler of the universe ?" inquired Ahama,
interrupting the loquacity of Khatun-i-gurun ;
but his question was rather addressed to himself
than to her. Already he sought an excuse for
disregarding the resolution of self-denial he had
formed.
" To the ruler of the universe !'' exclaimed
the lady of the harem, in a tone of surprise.
•' Surely my lord Ahama is possessed with
some droll thought. Why should a man who
finds a precious pearl give the present of his
beneficent fortune to another ? Is not the
women's retreat of the imperial palace filled
with the rarest beauties of Ighuria?^^^ What
does the emperor of the Moguls require with an
increased number ? He who commands at his
THE NAN SOUNG. 108
pleasure all the women of the earth, will he care
to take from the harem of his prime minister ?"
When the heart is inclined towards the com-
mittal of an act that the better judgment con-
demns, the approbation of a fool is sufficient to
assure its performance, or, at least powerfully
to bias the will in its favour. Thus was it with
Ahama. In his bosom struggled vehement
desire against the enfeebled suggestions of
policy, whilst Khatun-i-gurun came to smother
the last whispers of the latter. He approached
the couch, and gazed upon the sleeping maid,
one of whose arms, bared from the elbow, lay
exposed upon the coverlet, adorned with a mag-
nificent bracelet of agate and of precious stones,
united together by slender links of gold. It
had been a present from the empress consort to
herself in the days prior to her father's disgrace,
and the only ornament, since that period, with
which she had decked her person.
" Who traced the portrait should, presump-
tuous fool ! lose his right hand. He knew not
how to copy with truth these beauties," mut-
tered Ahama, as he raised the curtain, and,
standing on one side, permitted the light to fall
upon Luseynah's countenance. '^ Her brows
104 THE FALL OF
are softly defined and arched as the new-born
moon that sinks in the west, whilst the light of
day is lingering upon the horizon , her forehead
is bright as the noonday sky ; her breath is
odorous as musk, and passes as noiselessly
through her nostrils as steps the camel upon
the sands of the desert. That neck, so fair,
shall it be reddened by the ardent kisses of the
Tatar emperor ? x\nd what will my own reward
be for having renounced her ? Wealth I Surely
my understanding is blinded, for it is my own
industry that fills those hands that are to confer
it. Not a coin enters their possession before it
has been in mine. Honours ! — influence ! What
matter the first ? — mine cannot be increased.
The second depends on favour. It is an ocean
upon which my frail bark floats. Though royal
caprice calms the floods to-day, to-morrow the
storm may overwhelm me. Why should I create of
this Mogul a god, and offer him, like some peasant
to his deity, a vast profitless sacrifice ? Nay,
beautiful Chinese, thou art mine, wholly mine,
by this fervent kiss I place upon thy arm. What
noise !" he exclaimed, turning hastily round
just in time to behold the last folds of Khatun-i-
THE NAN SOUNG. 105
gurun's dress, as that lady disappeared through
the door-way.
" KhatuD-i-garun," Ahama continued, when
he discovered the cause of his alarm, "you are
right. Love can bear no witnesses, and much
less could yoLi be one — you, who desire its mys-
teries as do the mares of Araby that have once
foaled. But yon ingress must- be closed; for
there is many a bitter enemy of mine who would
ask no better opportunity than to find me stu-
pified in the arms of love."
The minister crossed the chamber, and secured
the entrance, and then returned towards the
couch of the Chinese. He saw not a female
figure that emerged from the shadow of a high
piece of furniture, nor heard her quick, light
step as she trod upon the soft carpet. She was
at his side, and in his ear she said —
" Slave of a robber, what do you in the
chamber of virtue ?"
Backwards, as though he had been struck by
a powerful arm, the minister recoiled in terror,
whilst Linpeytsin passed on to the bed of her
finend, by which she stood, gazing menacingly
at the Arab. For a few minutes, the latter con-
F 3
106 THE FALL OF
tinued standing immoveable, thoroughly as-
tounded at her ajoparition; but joresently re-
covering himself, he said, in a tone of respectful
awe —
" Whence come you, vision ? Are you a
female genius of the heavens?"
"Man of rapine," replied Linpeytsin, *' the
Corea, before the hordes of your people had in-
vaded its recesses, was the place of my birth."
" I am not of Tatar birth. She who bore me
became a mother among the tents of the Arabs,'*
said Ahama. "And thou — art thou truly a
daughter of the earth, and not a spirit ?"
" Inhale courage, you man of little soul ! It
is a woman who bids you cease from the design
you meditated of shaming an illustrious family."
" Vile jade, have you dared rise up in my path
as a bramble in the way of the traveller ? I
will have you beaten by my slaves till your body
lose all human figure," said Ahama, whose face
now became as crimson with rage as it had
before been pale from fear.
" My courage will not quail under the inflic-
tion. I can endure all, knowing that I have
preserved from your rude touch her, who is to my
THE NAN SOUNG. 107
heart as the chords are to a musical instru-
ment."
" You are a maiden of spirit," observed the
minister, dissembling his passion for the minute.
"How came you to know that the lion had
seized its prey ?"
" Man of a false heart, so you doubt your
miserable slaves. You imagine that I gained
entrance here with their connivance, and then
would ask me to betray who had assisted me.
The tale is simple. I had retired to my chamber,
when I recollected I had forgotten to give her
who sleeps an object of female attire, a hair-pin.
From my own chamber I passed here without
awakening the slaves who slept in the ante-
room. Luseynah I also found sleeping ; but her
slumber was too deep for nature. I suspected
evil intent, and placed myself by her to watch.
On your approach, I concealed myself. I need
not tell you of your terror when you beheld
me."
"My memory is not treacherous," observed
Ahama, with affected coolness. " But since
you love so well to watch, you shall keep guard
over our loves, but bound, so as not to stir hand
nor foot."
108 THE FALL OF
As he spoke, he undid a large shawl that
bound his waist, and advanced towards the
Corean.
The latter awaited his approach uncon-
cernedly ; but, when he w^as near, darted her
hand at his breast. Scarce had the Arab time,
by leaj^ing back, to avoid the long and slender
blade that ghttered before his eyes.
" God of heaven !" he exclaimed. " The fury
of a tigress !"
" But for the rapidity of your spring, you had
found, wretched coward, worse than the sting
of the most poisonous reptile that crawls upon
the earth. In such venom has this blade been
dipped, that the smallest scratch you had re-
ceived from its point, before you could have
crossed the room, would have rendered your
body as bloated a carcase as your mind is in-
flated with evil."
" Is it so ? Then my slaves shall wrench it
from you," replied Ahama, advancing towards
the door.
'* Pause I" cried Linpeytsin, " or T launch the
weapon at you. My aim is sure."
Ahama paused. He hesitated between his
THE NAN SOUNG. 109
pride, passion, and fear of the weapon poised
against him.
"Had you a cuirass of the stone Hiung-
hoang,"*^ continued the Corean, " the virtue of
the poison would penetrate it, and freeze the
life-drops in your heart. Are you content to
purchase existence by swearing to abstain from
all injury to the lady Luseynah and myself?"
Ahama measured with his eye the distance
from the door. Though not far, he knew that
it would require time to undo the fastenings he
had himself secured, and that an instant would
be sufficient to infect his veins with the venom
on the Corean's blade.
Linpeytsin noted the irresolution of the Arab,
and advanced a few paces towards him, saying —
" Then be the fate of Lyheng^^^ yours."
Ahama was vanquished. The danger he had
run had cooled his j^assion, and restored to him
the resolution he had formed with regard to
presenting Luseynah to his sovereign, and he
cried —
" Be there peace between us ! Woman, you
have your will. I swear "
" Swear in the name of the god you but now
no THE FALL OF
invoked/' said the Corean, interrupting him.
" And to secure your faith, you must drink three
drops of some hquid that has fallen from this
blade, which, should you perjure yourself, will
be as deadly as though the steel had pierced
your breast."
Ahama consented to repeat the formula of
oath Linpeytsin desired, by which, in case of
perjury, he imprecated upon himself, ancestors,
and descendants, the direst curses of Heaven.
The Corean then dipped her weapon into a jar
of water, and three drops of the liquid that
adhered to it she allowed to fall into a goblet,
upon which she poured a small quantity of
wine ; and this Ahama drank.
" Now, Arab," said Linpeytsin, " farewell !
Kemember your oath, which the spirits of heaven
will surely avenge, if you dare to violate it; and
know, before you injure her who sleeps on yon
couch, my hand will render her a disgusting
mass with the venom that yet adheres to this."
Ahama did not reply, but hastily quitted the
chamber. As he closed the door, the rage he
had suppressed broke forth, and grinding his
teeth, he muttered —
" Accursed female devil ! — daughter of Satan !
THE NAN SOUNG. Ill
— thy draught has been to my stomach heavier
than lead ! I — no, I cannot ; for all the fiends
of the talisman by which thou hast sworn me
would be upon me ! No ; it shall not be I.
Either of you shall enter the imperial harem.
The principal of the eanuchs shall be informed
of your nature ; then raise your hand, if you be
able. Heaven defend me from ever desiring
diversion with one who has so nearly occasioned
mv death I"
112
THE FALL OF
CHAPTER VII.
The Chinese embassy had arrived at the court
of the Mogul emperor, and had been received
with distinction, pursuant to the designs of
Ahama, who had already caused his two fair
captives to be presented to his sovereign, and
now sought to render as noble as possible the
appearance of the mission whose object, though
he had prevented it from officially transpiring,
he had reported as being to procure the Ubera-
tion of the two ladies.
At the commencement of every new moon, it
was the custom of the Mogul sovereign to give
to his grandees and the noblest strangers pre-
sent a festival, over which he presided in per-
son,* and at this, the minister of finance had
• Vide M. Polo, 325.
THE NAN SOUNG. 113
contrived that the ambassadors should make
their first appearance.
The saloon in which the entertainment was
to be given was equally large and beautiful,
worthy of its name, Tai-ho-tyen, hall of celestial
union.* Wooden pillars, stained crimson and
varnished, and round which were wreathed
gilded dragons, supported a fretted ceiling,
ornamented with devices in azure and gold.
The walls were painted in fresco, representing
warriors and statesmen who had rendered them-
selves celebrated among the Tatars for their
valour or wisdom, together with notable feats
of arms performed by the same people, and
landscapes that portrayed the pastoral habits of
the nomade nations, with various other scenes
of their mode of life and government. In
one, accompanied by his family in their high
chariots upon two wheels, was seen a wealthy
Tatar migrating with his flocks. In the dis-
tance, he left the hills, where fresh streams and
abundant vapours had preserved the pasturage
during the heats of summer, but upon which
the early snows had already fallen, and he now
* Vide Du Halde, i. 117.
114 THE FALL OF
sought a refuge from the approaching winter
among the warmer plains and steppes. In
another, the rivers were frozen, the snow lay
thick upon the earth — a numerous army was in
motion at this favourite season of Tatar inva-
sion. Along the track the corps d'armee had
pursued were the ruins of towns and villages ;
and in the direction whither they advanced,
men sat peacefully at the doors of their dwell-
ings, without suspicion of the scourge that
approached ; whilst, to the right and left, parties
might be seen returning from their predatory
expeditions, and driving their booty, in pri-
soners and cattle, before them, or quitting the
main body to increase by their exertions the
amount of plunder. On the floor was spread a
carpet, with pattern of the richest colours, and
figures worked upon it in golden thread. On
the northern side of the room, immediately be-
fore a large silken curtain that stretched from
side to side, was the throne of the Mogul sove-
reign, raised several feet above the level of the
floor. In front of this, occupying the centre of
the apartment, was a magnificent piece of fur-
niture— a square buff'et of gilt silver, exquisitely
carved on its exterior, each side being three
THE NAN SOUNG. 116
paces in length.* Within was a large jar of
gold, capable of holding a tun, and filled with
rice-wine. It also contained cups, flagons, and
other drinking vessels of the precious metals,
the sole value of which was enormous. At each
angle of this buffet stood smaller vessels of
silver, capable of containing about a hogs-
head, and which were filled with different
liquors — one with Koumiss,*^^ a kind of wine
extracted from mares' milk, another with
camels' milk, &c. On either side were rows
of tables, behind which were files of guards,
bearing banners inscribed with the sun, moon,
and stars, or various figures upon tall staffs,
such as the moon in her first quarter, heads of
animals, &c., for the Moguls had adopted not
only the form of government of the Chinese,
but also the imperial insignia of the latter, as
well as their general costume. At the lower or
southern portion of the room stood those who
had been invited to the festival, awaiting the
arrival of their imperial host. The Mogul officers
were clad in dresses of yellow silk, some of
which were ornamented with precious stones,
and were valued by an European traveller at a
• Vide M. Polo, 319.
116 THE FALL OF
thousand bezants ;* girdles of chamois leather
were round their waists ; and large high boots,
with buskins of white leather, to prevent the
wearer from soiling the carpet, completed
their equipment ; wliilst each carried a small
spittoon, some of metal, the others of agate or
other stone, and each time they spat into it,
performed a reverence. f
On either side of the public door, that gave
entrance to the saloon, stood a guard of colossal
stature, armed with a bamboo, with which to
inflict summary chastisement upon any indivi-
dual who should inadvertently tread upon the
threshold, J an act considered by the Moguls as
particularly unlucky. A large hall was on the
other side, crowded with men clad in costumes
as various as the objects that led them there.
Some brought for the inspection of, or as pre-
sents to the grand khan, objects curious for
their ingenuity or application to science, or
valuable for their beauty or rarity. But the
majority were suppliant princes, who sought to
be restored to the thrones of which the Moguls
* Vide M. Polo, 325.
t Ibid. 382.
I Vide Rubniquis, 33, Ber ; M. Polo, 320.
THE NAN SOUNG. 117
had dispossessed tliem ; or the sons of reigning
sovereigns, retained by the Tatars as hostages,
with a sprinkling of refugees, or traitors, who,
to be restored to the country from which they
were banished, cared not if they could urge the
court at which they now resided to bind their
natal soil with chains. Large was the crowd ;
for Kublai's possessions included China, with
the exception of a few south-eastern provinces
— Thibet, Cochin-China, Tonquiu, Turkestan,
with most of the country now denominated as
Chinese-Tatary. The Corea was subjected to
his supremacy. He was lord paramount of
those portions of his family who reigned in
Affghanistan, Persia, the greater part of present
Turkey in Asia, Kharism, the present country of
the Uzbecks, and Southern European Russia.*
Tatar armies had already ravaged Poland and
Hungary, and the rest of Europe dreaded the
same fate as that which had overtaken near all
Asia, and menaced Egypt.
But our tale has nought to do with this
motley group, further than to remind the reader
of the vast power of the sovereign to whom he
* Vide His. des Mongols, 446.
118 THE FALL OF
is about to be presented, and that he derived
his origin from a race that in various ages have
invaded, ravaged, or subdued each country of
Europe.
Among those who awaited in the saloon the
grand khan's arrival might be noted the Chinese
embassy, composed of Oulintse, in the character
Chingouang-chae,* or first ambassador ; Tkan-
ghia in that of Tso-ouang-chae, plenipotentiary ;
and Kaohe as chief secretary. The countenance
of the ambassador denoted that his situation
had not increased his valour, for that very
morning, accompanied by his suite, he had been
compelled to pass between two fires, during a
high wind, a situation not particularly pleasing,
although the flames be fed with odorous woods ;
for such is the observance practised by the
Mogul and Turkish races, for the purpose of
purifying the envoys who appeared at their
courts, and counteracting the influence of any
spell they might have upon their persons ;t
and Oulintse doubted whether some such another
preparation might not be esteemed necessary
* Vide Ellis, 62.
+ Vide Plan Carpino, ed. D'Avezac, 231.
THE NAN SOUNG. 119
by his hosts, to purify him sufficiently to appear
in the presence of the grand khan. Tkanghia
appeared haughty and anxious; and Kaohe,
whose inchnation to astonish the Moguls by
the sumptuousness of his dress, had been re-
strained, seemed as easy and confident in him-
self as though his colleagues had not discovered
the limited acquirements he possessed to fit
him for the appointment he held.
Each one stood according to his rank, and no
one addressed his fellow. The silence was as
dead as though a god were present, slumbering
before his votaries, who feared to disturb his
rest, and yet withal there was a dignity that
particularly distinguishes Asiatic pomp, and as-
sists to cast around oriental monarchs an awe
that affects all who approach their footstool.
The company might have been thus as-
sembled about the space of an hour, when a
slight noise was heard proceeding from behind
the curtain that crossed the upper part of the
saloon. A few moments afterwards, the folds of
silk were gathered up instantaneously, as though
by the effects of magic ; music burst forth, and the
emperor was beheld advancing towards his
throne. The guards around the saloon sunk
120 THE FALL OF
upon their knees, an example that the rest of
the assembly imitated, and simaltaneously each
one present touched the ground with his fore-
head. Perhaps their activity was not so much
owing to their loyal respect, as to the fear of the
rods borne by the masters of the ceremonies,
which would immediately have been applied to
the back of any laggard. The Chinese also
bowed ; but an admirable device had been
imagined by Oulintse to reconcile to his con-
science this humiliation before a barbarian
sovereign. On a ]Diece of yellow paper he had
traced the name of the emj^eror of China, and
it was to this and not to the grand khan he and
his colleagues performed their prostrations.
A triple umbrella of yellow silk was borne
before the grand khan, who carried in his ow^n
hands a slab of stone, as did also the principal of
his grandees, who followed him on his right,
whilst the empress and women of the court
were on his left. Guards brought up the rear.
Kublai was habited in a dress of cloth of
gold, one blaze of brilliants and other stones,
that had rendered his costume, to one less
robast, insupportable from its weight. On his
head, he wore a cap somewhat resembling in
THE NAN SOUNG. 121
shape those of our universities, and decorated,
in front and behind, with strings of pearls. He
appeared about fifty years of age, was of middle
stature ; his form, as the ample robe he w^ore
betrayed, was justly proportioned, his com-
plexion was fair and ruddy, his eyes were dark,
and his features well defined.*
Kublai ascended his throne, and the grandees
who accompanied him seated themselves ; the
men at the tables to the right, the women
to the left ; the members of his family occupying
the seats nearest to himself, according to their
distances of relationship. The males were
habited in tunics crossed over the chest and
fastening to the right side with a girdle ;t they
wore flat hats of different colours, fastened
under their chins by cords, to which two tassels
were attached ; their heads were shaven behind
and in front, and what hair was left upon their
crowns was plaited into tresses. The costume
of the married ladies differed from that of the
gentlemen alone in having their hair wound
round into a knot on the top of their heads,J on
which they wore a kind of head dress, somewhat
• Vide M. Polo, 281. ■♦■ Vide Rubruquis, 15; Bergeron.
X Vide D'ohsson.
VOL. II. G
122 THE FALL OF
like that of the Syrian women ; it was of bark,
covered with silk, about sixteen inches in
diameter, and round; its length was about a
foot and a half, and on its summit was a cane of
the same length, ornamented with precious
stones, and surmounted with peacock's feathers.*
The crowd at the lower end of the room con-
tinued to kneel until bidden to rise by the
masters of the ceremonies ; as they rose, each
proceeded to his place without the least con-
fusion or dispute upon point of precedence ; for
the Mogul officers knew the seats that they
should occupy, and the strangers, among others
the Chinese, were conducted to theirs by officials
charged expressly with this duty. As the tables
were not in sufficient number for the whole
company, those who could not be accommodated
at them sat crosslegged upon square pieces of
carpet.
In describing a previous entertainment, we
have already said that Chinese etiquette pre-
scribes placing more than three guests at the
same table whilst that number of tables can be
assigned to an individual whom his entertainer
desires particularly to honour. Two had been
* Vide Rub. in Ber. p. 15, 16.
THE NAN SOUNG. 123
placed before Oulintse for his own accom-
modation ; one was covered with fruits and
cakes, a kind of bread of very ill-baked dough,
upon the other were dishes of meat and a large
silver flagon, filled with koumiss, having at its
side a ladle fashioned to resemble a cup.
Tkanghia and Kaohe had each a separate table,
and the last appeared well pleased as he eyed
the large vessel before him, with the contents of
which he longed to become acquainted, and he
was only induced to restrain his imj)atience by
a fear of the masters of the ceremonies' rods.
The feasting began. The first course was laid
upon the table, served up in silver dishes, and
partaken of by the guests in perfect silence. On
its removal a flourish of music announced that
the grand khan was about to drink, much to
the satisfaction of the majority of his guests, to
whom this was a signal to relax somewhat of
the ceremonious behaviour that galled them,
for, being Tatars, they were accustomed to the
freedom of their own carousals, and liked but
little this imitation of Chinese manners.
A priest stood at the right of the grand khan,
whose profession was not only that of a minister
of heaven, but also magician. li> his hands
G U,
124 THE FALL OF
was a long white rod, which he now waved in
the direction of the buffet, from whence a cup
immediately issued, which, traversing the air
without any visible agency, alighted on the
grand khan's table.*
Those who had not previously beheld this
apparently wondrous feat of magic uttered an
unfeigned exclamation of surprise, and those to
whom it was not a strange sight did the same
from adulation. Loudest of any was the ejacula-
tion of Oulintse, who verily believed that he
gazed upon a potent operation of ''diablerie."
The spectators having had sufficient time
allowed them to behold the effect, were not per-
mitted to gaze longer, lest they might discover
or ascribe the cause to less miraculous agency ;
for several voices cried, " Prostrate yourselves !
The emperor drinks !" And the assembly, with
but one exception, obeyed the injunction, and
that one was Tkanghia.
We are not fond of ascribing particularly
exalted motives to the actions of our characters.
We endeavour to rej^resent ordinary men
who are generally influenced more by pre-
judices than enthusiastic sentiments, and
* Vide M.Polo, p. 253.
THE NAN SOUNG. 126
Tkanghia's reasons for not prostrating himself
bad, in their suggestions, more of personal
vanity, from considering himself as being of a
nation superior to that before whose chief he
was required to bow, than from fearing to lower
the dignity of the sovereign he represented, and
though he rose from his seat and stood in a
respectful attitude, he considered the posture of
the slaves around him as too abject and de-
gi'ading for him, an officer of the celestial
empire, to submit himself to.
A master of the ceremonies had observed
him, and advancing to him, muttered, in a low
and angry tone, *' Slave ! man of weak faculties !
prostrate yourself before the lord of the earth,
the potent sovereign of the universe !"
Tkanghia replied not to this address, though
his national pride was sorely wounded, and he
felt proportionately angered.
" Is thy sense of hearing as dull as is thy
comprehension of the resjoect due to the khan
of khans ? Bow, man of mean capacities ; pros-
trate thyself before the lord of the universe !"
continued the official, in a more impatient tone,
touching Tkanghia with his rod upon his back.
" I know but one lord of the universe before
126 THE FALL OF
whom I prostrate myself, and his residence is
in the court of the south/' repUed Tkanghia,
"who could scarcely restrain his passion, and
dared not look upon his assailant.
The master of the ceremonies conceived the
hesitation in the voice of Tkanghia to proceed
from timidity, and that he desired to play a part,
for which his courage was not sufficiently strong
to sustain him, and, imagining that the employ-
ment of force might exact from him what he
required, he said, as he placed his hand upon
his shoulders to thrust him down, "Bow, ob-
stinate spirit of Manjin : prostrate yourself,
presumptuous man !"
Tkanghia s wrath was excited beyond en-
durance by this proceeding of the official, and,
seizing the latter by his embroidered girdle, he
flung him into the centre of the room.
We frankly confess ourselves at a loss for a
simile to which we might liken the effect pro-
duced by the appearance of the master of the
ceremonies revolving through the air, and then
falling on the floor, which, most fortunately for
him, was carpeted, or he might have lost more
than his senses from the force of his descent.
We know of nothing emblematical that would
THE NAN SOUNG. 127
serve our purpose. Electric shocks, falling
bombs, &c., are pretty 'w-ell worn out, and so,
without the assistance of a poetic image to
decorate the page, we must pursue our tale.
The prostrate crowd leaped upon their feet,
some to assist the senseless official, and others,
fearing a treacherous attack upon the life of
their sovereign, surrounded the throne to protect
its occupant, but their spontaneous movement of
loyalty alarmed the last, who knew not but that
they were conspirators. So much for the security
of eastern despots ! Tkanghia stood among a
number of furious soldiery, whose weapons were
pointed at his breast. A smile, partly of mirth
and partly of defiance, was upon his lips, the
formerprovokedby the situation of Oulintse, who,
from the very commencement of the disturb-
ance, had directed him to submit to the in-
junctions of the official, and who, now fearing
lest he should be held responsible for the
violence of his subordinate, maintained his
prostrate position, though trodden upon by the
guards, and muttered prayers and invocations
to the spirits for assistance as fast as he could
utter them.
The grand khan was the first to form an idea
128 THE FALL OF
of the cause that had created the disturbance,
and, directing the company to retire to their
places, commanded that Tkanghia should be
brought before him.
The guards rudely obeyed the order, and
dragging, rather than leading, the Chinese officer
before the throne, they cast him upon his face.
" What mean you, slave, by this conduct ?"
inquired the Mogul emperor. " Let him rise
upon his knees that he may reply," he con-
tinued, addressing the soldiers. Some of these last
immediately seized Tkanghia by the shoulders,
whilst others held his hands above his head.
The face of Tkanghia had struck the ground
and was covered with blood. " Monarch of the
north !" he said, in a tone that did not denote
fear, "my heart was with the Sovereign of the
universe, my person in your presence. A rude
man bade me prostrate myself before a Tatar
chief, as though he were ruler of the nine
earths.'^' He struck me and used violence. As
the withered leaves of autumn enrage the spirits
of the air by beating them as they pass, so was
my anger raised. As the winds hurl the leaves
away, I dashed the slave from me."
'' Man of presumption ! have you dared to
THE NAN SOUNG. 120
raise your hand against my servant ? Surely
you are actuated by madness, or are under the
influence of wine," said the grand khan, in a
tone of severity, but vrho, in reaHty, was rather
pleased than angered at the fearless demeanour
of the Chinese officer.
" Monarch of the north !'' replied Tkanghia,
*' my hand has been often raised against the
Mogul rebels, and that too when their coursers
were numerous and their squadrons covered the
field. Tkanghia, when he commanded a thousand
men of the empire, has often given your chiefs
causes and signs by which to remember him."
" Your vanity is egregious, you little man !"
said Kublai. " Think you that my generals heed
the few flies that buzz around their banners of
victory and of conquest ? You have erred through
ignorance. I pardon you. Prostrate yourself
before my clemency. Be not obdurate. Such
folly will cost you tears of blood."
" Monarch ! you have the power to reward or
punish the servants of your own house. My
inferior abilities are dedicated to the service of
him whose race has existed ten thousand
years. Over me you possess no jurisdiction,
though in the pride of your heart you dare
G 3
130 THE FALL OF
imagine my injury. Think not, because so many
thousand lee separate you from the court of the
south, that the emperor of the universe cannot
reach you with his frown. Illustrious examples
guide my conduct, and not presumptuous vanity.
Your threats may shake the physical courage of
northern races, but not the moral valour that
distinguishes the south. I prostrate myself
before the lord of the universe alone, who is also
your superior; though, mercifully hoping you
might repent of your rebellious deeds, he has
not overwhelmed you with his power — a cle-
mency your vanity has ill considered."
" By the spirit of heaven ! are presumptuous
slaves to pluck our beards as we sit upon our
throne ? Tremble, man of folly ! thy punish-
ment shall be equal to thy arrogant daring.
Forth with him from the presence. Let an ox
be slain, and let him be inclosed in the newly-
stripped hide, and be lain in the sun till the
shrinking skin squeeze him to death in agony !''
Kublai exclaimed ; for however much a mo-
narch may be pleased with a fearless demeanour,
as a lion with the gambols of the puppy en-
caged with it, it is woe to the lesser animal
when the greater feels its dignity insulted.
The soldiers were dragging Tkanghia with
THE NAN SOUNO. 131
them towards the door, when a young man,
habited in the Mogul military costume, and who
commanded a portion of the guards present,
with hasty steps advanced before the throne,
and, prostrating himself, exclaimed in the
Tatar tongue, '' Grace ! O mighty sovereign !
grace ! in reward for an act of hospitality rarely
paralleled. Grace ! that the name of my fathers
be not branded with ingratitude."
" Grace ! For whom ? For what offence ?
Speak, Mouyangtse. My illustrious grandsire,
whose place is vacant, was allied in spirit with
thine, as the moon is with the stars, as the rain
with the wind. I also have borne you affection,
for thy soul is brave and withal merciful ; which
are the qualities that fit the warrior to wield the
sword, and enable him to maintain the conquests
it procures him."^^
*' Mighty sovereign ! whose fame is exalted
as the heavens, whose sway is broad as the
azure circle of the universe, whose bounty and
clemency are exhaustless as the waters of the
ocean, may I speak ?"
" Already our permission has been accorded
to you. Speak, Mouyangtse ; we accord no
favour to retract it," replied the grand khan.
" Sovereign I" said Mouyangtse, " the tale is
138 THE FALL OF
short. A hare was attacked by wolves ; a falcon
came to its rescue, and, plucking feathers from
its wings, enabled the timid animal to fly,
although, by so doing, the generous bird ex-
posed itself to peril from the fowlers. The
falcon has incurred the displeasure of the eagle.
The creature whose life it preserved has but
power to tremble for its safety ; for how can it
afford the assistance its gratitude would dic-
tate ?"
The most prominent trait in the character of
Kublai, after his avarice, was his love of the
marvellous, to feed which passion his emissaries
travelled to distant countries, and, on their
return, amused him with many a strange narra-
tion.* Any tale, almost, interested him, as
happens with most enthusiasts ; and such he
was, though age had somewhat damped the
ardour of the sentiment, or never could he have
conceived the bold idea of civilizing such a per-
fectly barbarous people as the Moguls.
" Speak," he said, ''and tell your tale simply,
and with confidence."
"Monarch superior to every other ruler!'
* Vide M. Polo -, Note 46.
THE NAN SOUNG. 133
the young Tatar replied, '' when Moho Niyan,
the bearer to the south of the imperial will, was
attacked by assassins, he bade Mouyangtse flee,
that he might warn his court not to rely upon a
traitor. Mouyangtse obeyed ; but his horse was
wounded. He was pursued, and would have
been overtaken but for refuge afforded him by
the Chinese who has incurred your displeasure,
and who further concealed him, in spite of the
punishment threatened for so doing, and finally
expedited him to his country, defraying his ex-
penses, and furnishing him with silver. Sove-
reign ! with this man I have sworn an oath of
brotherhood. If it be the imperial will that he
perish, let Mouyangtse accompany his adopted
brother to the land of shades."
Fortunately for the wishes of the Tatar, the
grand khan had not endured that day a single
twitch of the gout, to which disease he at times
was a martyr.* His disposition was hence most
favourable for the prayers of a suppliant, and
he said —
''Hasten, Mouyangtse, to the assistance of
your friend. Liberate him from the hands of
* Vide M. Polo, 343.
134 THE FALL OF
the soldiery, who shall weep if harm have over-
taken him. Conduct him to the imperial ward-
robe ; let him be clothed in a dress of honour,
and when he returns, let him eat with you from
off your own table."
It is needless to say that Mouyangtse hastened
instantly to execute the order he had received,
or that Oulintse felt otherwise than pleased at
seeing his inferior thus liberated from the effects
of his violent conduct.
The entertainment was resumed. Dancers
wriggled their limbs into a thousand contor-
tions, or went through a variety of attitudes that
Tatar delicacy was not to be affected at, accom-
panying their motions with clapping their hands
together, and shrill whistlings.* Jugglers per-
formed dexterous feats for the amusement of the
company. Among others, a boy, habited as a
swan, imitated all tho movements of that bird.
To the delight of Kaohe, the drinking began to
be rather hard, cups being finished in rapid
succession ; nor did his contain the simple
beverage preferred by the sober portion of the
guests, that is, warm tea, prepared, after the Mogul
* Pallas, i. 350.
THE NAN SOUNG. 136
fashion, with milk and butter.* So well did he
enter into the spirit of the debauch, that at the
conclusion of the entertainment, his step was
so unsteady, that, in passing out of the door, he
trod upon the threshold. The guards, accord-
ing to orders, were more lenient to offenders
after than before the fete ; so the illustrious
secretaiT escaped a beating, though he was de-
prived of his upper dress, which, on the next
day, he would have to reclaim with a round sum
of money in hand.
* Vide PaUas, i. 513.
136 THE FALL OF
CHAPTER VIII.
'* For nothing so much pitty doth implore
As gentle ladye's helplesse misery ;
But yet, if please ye, listen to my lore,
I will, with proofe of last extremity,
Deliver her fro thence."
FAERIE QUEEN.
On the day succeeding the banquet, Oulintse,
in his official character, had had an audience of
the grand khan. Imposed upon by the specious
and seemingly amicable advice of Ahama, the
ambassador scarcely referred to the political
part of his mission, so that his object appeared
solely to be the liberation of the two ladies.
Kublai was somewhat irritated that day, for
the gout had renewed its attack upon one of
his limbs, and the consequence was a burst of
THE NAN SOUNG. 137
passiou as soon as he learned that the envoy
liad dared to undertake a mission the object of
-which was to interfere with the interior of his
harem. The trembling Oalintse was somewhat
unceremoniously dismissed from the Tatar court,
right happy to escape without any more sensible
mark of imperial indignation. Tkanghia, how-
ever, was retained by the commands of the grand
khan, who desired to engage him for his own
service.
A few days after this, Kublai quitted Cambalu
for Mongolia. The remembrance of their former
vagrant habits rendered these periodical returns
of their emperor to his native country particu-
larly acceptable to the Tatars engaged about
Kublai's person ; especially did they long for
the pure atmosphere of their own steppes and
valleys, since, as the summer advances, the air
of the province of Petchely becomes insup-
portable from the quantity of dust with which it
is loaded, owing to the pulverescent nature of
its soil.*
Nor were these annual migrations of Kublai
without political design. Whilst his Moguls
diverted themselves at those exercises, through
* VideDu Halde, i. 112.
138 THE FALL OF
which their sinews had been hardened, and in
which they had received their earhest lessons of
danger, till they had learned to disregard peril,
and, confronting it, had conquered half of the
then known world, — his presence tended to
confirm in their submission the Tatar tribes
inhabiting the country beyond, the great wall,
who would immediately have thrown off their
allegiance had they imagined him to have
deserted their customs for those of more civilized
life, but which they despised as effeminate. Yet
an annual residence in Tartary of three months
was hardly sufficient for this object, as numerous
rebellions, many of them dangerous, served to
prove.
Shangtu, the summer residence of the Mogul
emperors, was situated in the most agreeable part
of all the territory that now bears upon the map
the name of Mongolia, and in that particular
portion designated as Oartchin, that to the
south is separated from the province of Petchely
by the great wall ; eastward, is confined by the
palisades erected along the border of Leaotong,
a ridiculous imitation, in point of magnificence,
of the wall which they approach at their
southern extremity ; north, it is bounded by
THE NAN SOUNG. 139
the river Lohan, or, according to the Tatars,
Sira-Muren ; westward, it extends towards
Ortus, and the desert of Gobi.
Throughout Cartchin, the mountain range,
that from Thibet northwards girts China on
the west, and then bends to the east, some-
what diminished in height, less often scares
a traveller with enormous barren summits
and craggy slopes than in the two Chinese
provinces of Setchuen and Shensee. Broad
valleys separate the hills, watered in all direc-
tions by streams, and so verdant are they, that
many of the rich inhabitants possess flocks of
ninety thousand head, and an equal number of
horned cattle.* Numerous nations have at
various periods lorded it over this fair ter-
ritory. Hiongnu, Turks, Kitans, Moguls,
Chinese, and Manchours, with others, whose
names we have forgotten, have been incited by
the possession of its luxuriant territory to attempt
the conquest of similar lands, the ease with
which a portion of their people could maintain
themselves there rendering the others envious
of equal plenty.
Shangtu, once but a simple village, had now
* Vide Gro. i. 275.
140 THE FALL OF
risen into rivalry with Karacorum. In it. Kublai
had constructed a noble palace of marble and
of other stone ; and an Italian traveller, born
by the lagunes, who from his infancy bad be-
held the mansions of Venice, declared it to be
" admirable as well for the elegance of its design
as for the skill displayed in its execution."*
One side of the fabric faced the city, and
from either of its wings j^roceeded a w^all that
enclosed a space of sixteen miles in circum-
ference. Within, were woods, meadows, rivu-
lets, and artificial hills, and lakes. This was
the imperial park ; and here w^ere jealously
preserved animals of various kinds, but princi-
pally deer. In other parts of the grounds were
the kennels for the dogs, the dens for the hunt-
ing-leopards, and the mews for the hawks, of
which there were ujd wards of two hundred, all
well-trained, together with eagles, that had been
taught to stoop at goats, antelopes, and even
wolves, and which, during his residence here,
the grand khan was in the weekly habit of
inspecting.
Whether it was from natural aflPection to the
* Vide M. Polo, 250.
THE NAN SOUNG. 141
habits of his fathers, or with a design of flatter-
ing the prejudices of his Tatar subjects, we
know not ; but Kublai seldom passed the night
within his magnificent palace.
In the centre of the park, amid a grove of
trees, Kublai had caused a pavilion to be erected
for the accommodation of himself and principal
attendants. Wooden pillars, handsomely gilt
and varnished, supported it ; round each of
which a dragon, likewise gilt, entwined itself,
its head sustaining the projectien of the roof,
and its claws extending to the right and left
along the entablature. The roof was covered
with bamboo-tiles, painted yellow, and varnished,
and on every side was supported, like a tent,
by silken cords. The whole had been con-
structed with so much ingenuity, that all the
parts could be taken asunder, removed, and set
up again at the will of the grand khan.
In front of the pavilion, an hour before day-
break, a numerous assembly had collected, for
Kublai intended hunting that day. Chiefs and
princes stood at the entrance, habited in tall
caps, large trowsers, high boots of yellow leather,
and vests studded with gold, and armed with
bow, quiver, and sabre ; whilst at a short dis-
142 THE FALL OF
tance their attendants held for them their
steeds.
After the nobles, the two chief hunters of the
grand khan appeared. They were brothers,
and had each under his command ten thousand
huntsmen and five thousand dogs,* and held
their situations under the obligation of furnish-
ing to the court, from the month of October to
that of April, one thousand head of game daily.
On this occasion, however, but a portion of
their forces ^companied them to the field ;
those of the one brother being clad in red, and
standing to the right of the pavilion ; those of
the other, in blue, and standing on the left.
The chase this day being confined within the
bounds of the royal park, the numbers that
attended it were limited, yet they presented a
goodly array of some thousand men.
The sun at length rose, much to the delight
of many among those near the pavilion, who
had gradually conceived an afi'ection for soft
couches, and a dislike for matutinal hours, that
were still cool, although the summer had so far
advanced. A burst of music announced the
* Vide Marco Polo. — Marsden, p. 340.
THE NAN SOUNG. 143
day ; and a few minutes afterwards, two ele-
phants appeared, with their riders on their
necks, advancing with leisurely steps, and sup-
porting between them, on their backs, a wooden
building, lined with cloth of gold, and covered
on the outside with tigers' skins.
On the appearance of this conveyance, the
countenances of all, that had seemed but an
instant before so well pleased, became at once
overshadowed ; for this was the mode of tra-
velling ever employed by the grand khan when
affected with the gout — a malady that sours the
temperalike of subject and of monarch; and
certain did the assembly feel that some one of its
members would suffer for the pains that gnawed
the imperial limb.
In a few minutes, Kublai appeared, at whose
sight the whole assembly bowed. The ele-
phants knelt, and the grand khan, accompanied
by twelve of his principal officers, and by as
many of his best falcons, entered into the wooden
castle. The elephants then rose, and proceeded
in the direction of the chase.
Amid the train that followed the grand khan
might be seen Tkanghia, who rode by the side
of Mouyangtse, whose friendly remonstrances
14:4 thp: fall of
had prevailed upon him to prostrate himself,
with the rest of the crowd, on the appearance
of the Mogul emperor. Unable to exchange a
word, from the silence that etiquette prescribed,
they rode together to the portion of the park
where the chase was to be made. Here, on a
signal from the master of the hunt, the pro-
cession separated, and the two friends, who
cared not to engage in the sport, retired to a
hill from whence they might behold the prin-
cipal events that occurred, and be able to com-
mune together.
Scarcely had they reached the summit of the
eminence when Mouyangtse exclaimed, " Be-
hold I the sight is already of interest. The
grand khan has ordered a leopard to be loosed
upon the stag that drinks by the water. The
leopard is unhooded — they point him the prey.
What three noble bounds ! See ! he crouches
now. The antlered beast suspects there is danger
near — it tosses its head — it turns to fly. Too
late ! The leopard has sprung — has fixed upon
its back. He leaps — takes to the water. It is
useless, the beast sucks its life blood. He
staggers — Ah ! now, he is down. The keepers
cross to save the carcase from the savage animal.
It was a pleasurable sight."
THE NAN SOUNG. 146
'' For you, perhaps ; but I consider such ex-
hibitions as cruel and impoHtic. Cruel, it needs
no argument to prove ; impolitic, because such
amusements, -when engaged in by the court, are
imitated by the people, who thus receive lessons
in bloodshed that they terminate in seditions
and revolt. When, for these, they desert the
cultivation of the earth, the land is untilled,
famine menaces the nation, that soon endeavours
to supply its wants by the same species of
violence that its games have rendered familiar.
Besides, the royal power ought alone to be
exercised for mercy ; and what becomes of public
affairs when the highest executive chief is
absent ?"
" The manners of eVery people are adapted
to national character, as varieties of food are
to different animals," replied Mouyangtse. " The
chevril is poison unto man, but the wild rat of
the north lays up a store of its roots to serve
him as wine when he would be merry.'''"
Tkanghia, our ideas are widely different as to
how a nation should be constituted. I would
see it poor, powerful, and feared. Poor, that/ it
might continually be incited to conquest ; pow-
erful, that it may be assured of victory; and
VOL. II. H
146 THE FALL OF
feared, for it then receives the most flattering
homage an inferior can offer to a superior.
You wish to see it rich, humble to its rulers,
and haughty to those around it. Its wealth
would only excite envy without and avarice
within. The fear it entertains of its native
rulers would be transferred to the first foreign
conqueror who appeared, and, without any power
of defence, it falls a prey to the first enemy its
impotent vanity excites."
" Not so," replied Tkanghia; ''the empire of
the south is based upon more paternal prin-
ciples than the terror of its subjects. The
emperor represents a father ; the people are his
family, whom he corrects or rewards with affec-
tion and impartiality ; the governors and man-
darins are his representatives, to whom he
delegates his majesty, and whom the people
ought to regard with the respect of children for
their parents. It is not to the men, but to their
position, that submission is due."*
" Tkanghia, the idea may apjDear most just
and reasonable, but theories brought to practice
ever must deteriorate, especially if applied to
* Vide Du Halde, ii. 9.
THE NAN SOUNG. 147
governments. The herd of men behold the
effects, and care little for the remote and
casuistical reason or cause. When with you an
official punishes one for want of resjoect, what
prompts the infliction — his own feelings of anger?
or his desire to avenge the injured dignity
represented in his person ? Think you that the
suppliant who kneels at a tribunal of the south
for an instant conceives himself to be before
the emperor ? or does he not seek to propitiate
the man who sits before him ?"
" Your proposition has reference alone to the
vulgar and the uneducated. It is the literati,
those who have studied the excellent mode in
which the laws of the empire have been framed,
who comprehend their spirit — it is they who
behold, vested in the judge, the actual presence
of the emperor. The minds of the others are
too coarse to understand so fine and admirable
a conception, and, I admit, they are apt to
regard the reflection of an object for the object
itself."
" And of whom consists the nation ?" en-
quired Mouyangtse in a tone of triumph. " Is
it of the people or of the small class of officials
and students ? If it be of the first, then the
h2
J 48 THE FALL OF
national idea regards each ruler, separately, as
endowed with power, and the people; as I have
said, become habituated to render abject sub-
mission to their fellows — the first step that
prepares them for foreign invasion and con-
quest."
*' Be it so," rejoined Tkanghia ; '' but tell me,
Mouyangtse, does not this same submission
exist among the Tatars ? There are the same
prostrations ; there are officers appointed by
the rulers. Wherefore should submission render
abject but a man of the south ?"
*' Because the people of the south render
their respect from fear. If they be oppressed
by their governors, not only is it difficult but
also perilous to appeal for redress to the su-
perior tribunals. But it is not thus with the
people of the north. With us every horde or
uluss has its ruler, termed the Noypn : every
fraction of a horde, or aimak, is governed by a
saissang. The aimak is subdivided into fa-
milies, whom we call chatouns.* When the
leader of the chatoun is discontented with the
saissang, he strikes his tents and seeks other
* Vide Pallas, i. 527.
THE NAN SOUNG. 149
pastures, and transfers his allegiance to some
other chief. When a saissang conceives himself
ill used by his Noyon, he drives his flocks away
and takes refuge with or claims the hospitality
of some other uluss. Among our nations there
is a spirit of independence that every chief
dreads to excite, lest he behold himself deserted
or oppressed by the anger of his subjects.
For what Tatar is there who bears not a quiver
and a lance that he will not use as readily
against a domestic as a foreign foe ? The men
of the steppes are free — they love, but have no
abject terror of their rulers, for these last dare
not be guilty of an act of tyranny. Dost see,
Tkanghia," he continued, pointing to where the
grand khan sat in his pavilion. " The falconers
have roused a noble crane. See ! the emperor
has removed the curtains that he may watch the
flight of his favourite hawk. The long-legged
creature knows its peril, and would rise and
take refuge in the vault of heaven. Round,
round, they circle. Each endeavours to rise
the higher, but the falcon has it. He darts.
By the spirit of heaven ! he has missed the
quarry. Surely the grand khan will be fiercely
angered. Woe to the falconer who has charge of
the bird."
150 THE FALL OF
The fears Mouyangtse expressed were not
without foundation. A bustle, as if some one
were being sought for, was observable, and then
a knot of people proceeded towards the grand
khan, and who, with oflBicious rudeness, were
dragging along an unfortunate man, who was
cast ujoon the ground, and beaten either to death
or senseless, no one seemed to care which, for
who would have been bold enough to interfere
with one who had fallen under the imperial dis-
pleasure ?
" It seems," said Tkanghia, somewhat ironi-
cally, "that y6u Tatars, though you do not
submit to tyranny, endure punishment that is
somewhat severe. Had this occurred in the
empire of the south, a hundred j^lacards would
to-morrow morning be presented to the em-
peror, reproving him for barbarity, and for
unjustifiable severity."
"Allowed," replied the Tatar, with a smile, —
" allowed that the power of your monarchs over
his vassals be limited, because he is restrained
by certain ideas and regulations ; but is there
one, even to the lowest of your officials, that
could not have done what you have just beheld ?
The paternal correction of twenty blows is
THE NAN SOUNG. 161
sufficient, if harshly administered, to ensure
death ; but with us, the Hfe of a herdsman would
be required by the whole horde to which he
belonged at the hands of the highest grandee.
If we have one tiger, you have ten thousand.
And is it not a common saying with you, that
the emperor looses as many wolves and dogs
upon the people as he creates mandarins ?"
" Your view of our institutions is false, be-
cause you regard them only when defiled by the
impure conduct of the highest minister. When
virtuous men sit in the council, and the em-
peror attends to the representations of the
censors, such abuse of authority as you have
described becomes rare, and nearly impossible
to take place without procuring itself condign
punishment.
"I doubt much," replied Mouyangtse, "but
that the empire of the south, with all its pride
concerning its fancied superiority over other
nations, has as often to be ashamed of its ad-
ministration as those it afiects to despise. Bad
men are more numerous than good, and vicious
ministers than virtuous ; and when the govern-
ment depends upon the dispositions of its
officials, it is certain it will more often be vicious
152 THE FALL OF
than otherwise. The theory upon which it was
designed may be excellent ; hut the perfection
of virtue soon becomes the perfection of vice
when practised by impure hands. Hist ! Some
animal chased from below seeks refuge here.
Since Providence of itself thus presents us an
opportunity of sport, I unsling my bow."
Scarcely had Mouyangtse prepared his bow,
when a fine stag bounded into view. He fixed
an arrow to the string, and bent the weapon,
but, recollecting himself before he launched
the shaft, he turned to Tkanghia, and ofi'ering
him the bow, said —
"Forgive me — I had near been guilty of a
rudeness; and, much as you Chinese despise
our civility, we Tatars have our notions of
politeness. You, doubtless, would wish to try
your skill ?"
The animal stood almost in a straight hne
between the friends and where the Mogul em-
peror sat. The eye of Tkanghia was fixed in-
tently upon the pavilion. His lips pressed
upon his set teeth, and his eye brightened,
betraying the mental conception of some bold
deed. Almost mechanically, he took the prof-
THE NAN SOUNG. 163
fered weapon in his left hand, holding it a little
obliquely. The cord he passed into an agate
ring he wore upon the top joint of the thumb
of the right hand, which he pressed tightly down
upon his first finger. Keeping the left arm
straight, with the other he drew back the cord
till it passed his right ear, then, distending the
thumb, the cord escaped from the ring and im-
pelled the arrow forwards. An instant ere the
missive flew, Mouyangtse had glanced his eye
in the direction it was pointed, and, with a cry
of alarm, had grasped the bow in sufficient time
to cause the axrow to err from its mark, for it
passed a few feet above the Mogul emperor s
seat.
" Have your senses departed, Tkanghia !
What madness have you not been guilty of !"
exclaimed Mouyangtse.
" With that arrow I had freed the empire
from the degradation a barbarian menaces it
with," replied Tkanghia. ** Had you not de-
feated my aim, your emperor by this had been
fitted for the tomb of his ancestors among the
Altai mountains. It was but a little better than
half a lee. My eye was certain. I saw his hand
H 3
154 THE FALL OF
resting upon the curtains ; I knew where his
heart lay."
'' By the power that formed the heavens,
Tkaughia, though we be sworn as brothers, had
your arrow but touched the imperial garments,
I had slain you, and to expiate the fratricide,
have plunged my sabre into my entrails. You
now must fly, for most rigid will be the inquiry
instituted as to who discharged that arrow, and
if discovered, most surely you will be immolated.
Mount ; your horse is fresh ; take the road to
the south. If you can traverse one hundred
lee before the sun is down, you may escape.
Bear this ring to the steward of my father's
house, in Cambalu. Tell him its owner bids
him to conceal you. I will join you there, as I
can easily procure leave of absence ; and then
we will concert measures for your return to
Manjin."
" Mouyangtse," replied Tkanghia, in a calm
and resolute tone, " I have sought the destruc-
tion of your khan. Tyen had inscribed in the
book of destiny that I should not succeed ; I
bow to its decree. I will not fly from what my
fate has entailed upon me, for I have sought to
commit no felon's crime that would bid me
THE NAN SOUNG. 155
tremble for the consequences of my act. A
child would repeat to you the precepts of ven-
geance^'' that are instilled into our earliest youth.
I have sought to revenge not one single relative.
but whole nations, and can bear the penalty of
failure. The guards must already be seeking
the marksman whose fortune has been adverse.
I will acknowledge the act. Leave me, lest you
be regarded as implicated."
'' No, Tkanghia, I remain beside you. As
you protected me at your peril, at mine I
now rest by your side. But, before thus re-
solving to perish, have you thought of your
father's grief at beholding himself, by your
death, deprived of the posterity you should
create for him ? Have you thought that your
country wants now more than ever the heads
and hands of her sons ?"
" My fortune is too evil," replied Tkanghia,
" either to advantage- myself, my family, or the
empire. Success never, as yet, has attended
me ; but chiefest is my present failure, when I
am impotent to rescue the Lady Luseynah from
your barbarian monarch's power — a maiden fair
as the moon reflected in a tranquil lake.
Mouyangtse, wherefore did you defeat my aim ?
166 THE FALL OF
Before this, I had saved a beauteous dame from
danger of pollution, or had avenged her if
injured."
'' This is not a moment for such speeches,"
said Mouyangtse. " You delay too long.
Mount, and flee. Save yourself ; I am not power-
less to watch over the lady."
" You ! In what manner ?" Tkanghia eagerly
inquired.
" Listen," replied Mouyangtse. " It was the
emissaries of our minister of finance, Ahama, who
in character resembles your Kyatsetao, who
carried the two ladies off, one of whom is she
you speak of. At first, Ahama placed them in
his own harem, of which the aunt of my foster
brother is mistress, but afterwards he presented
them both to the grand khan, as being of a
beauty too great for the possession of a subject.
The emperor has not yet beheld them, but has
directed that a guard of honour shall attend
them, and that they proceed from Cambalu
hither. They should arrive this day. My
foster brother's aunt is with them. Thus I
shall be able to watch over their safety."
" Safety !" Tkanghia exclaimed. '' It is the
very embraces of your barbarian chief that for
THE NAN SOUNG. 157
ever divide her from me. I would have imagined
her escape, but it is impossible. Leave me, for
I hear voices approaching, and we shall be sur-
prised together. Since fate at my birth did not
tie for me the silken knot with the only maid I
could have sought in marriage, I care not for
life, yet I would not peril you"
*' Tkanghia, how disloyal is the thought you
have caused my heart to conceive. It is
feasible — I could procure their escape. But
the wrath of my sovereign ! To betray my chief
by invading the sanctity of his women's quarter ;
and then — for it must be so — desert my nation !"
Mouyangtse paused, as though conflicting
thoughts agitated his bosom.
'' Mouyangtse, it was not thus I observed my
oath of brotherhood. I protected you at my
peril, concealed you, and procured your escape,
in contravention of the laws of the empire.
Now, when I am as one plunged to the neck in
a rushing torrent, you boast of your power to
assist me, that you may compare your superior
loyalty with mine. I forgive the obligations
you are under to me. I will save your em-
peror's slaves the trouble of further search, and
when the fierce soldiery shall have torn this
158 THE FALL OF
body, if you feel any remnant of affection for
your brother by adoption, collect my remains,
and cause them to repose in the tombs of my
fathers !"
" Tkanghia, thou art ungenerous in thy re-
proaches. One who has ever been true to his
sovereign becomes not readily a traitor. Sorely
does my heart combat I"
" Mouyangtse, I leave you, since you will not
quit me. With me you must not be implicated ;
and when you feel your limbs lusty with
strength, and have risen to honour, serving a
barbarian rebel of the empire, sometimes think
of him who preserved your life, thus enabling
you to tread ' the yellow road,' the path of pros-
perity."
" Tkanghia, there needed not this to have
vanquished me. It is difficult for a Tatar to
forget his duty to his chief; it is more difficult
for him to forget the obligations of hospitality.
The ladies shall speedily be free. Flee I for you
cannot assist me."
*' Mouyangtse, this is no friendly deceit you
practise towards me ?"
'' Tkanghia," replied the Tatar, in an in-
dignant tone, '' think you my tongue is forked,
THE NAN SOUNG. 169
that I can utter a falsehood ! I will observe
my promise. You must now fly towards the
north. See yonder hill, with the white cabin
upon its summit. I will despatch a trusty guide
to meet you there. He will arrive speedily as
you, for he will take the short paths known to
the people of these places. With him, pause
not, but hasten towards Karacorum, where, with
the ladies, I myself will join you. With women,
a flight would be slow, and if we proceeded
directly to the south, we should be overtaken
before we reached the wall of Tchin,* for thither
they will pursue us. They never will suspect
our path to tend northward. You still doubt
me," he continued, taking an arrow from his
quiver, which he broke in two. " I swear to
you the most solemn oath of our people. If I
fulfil not my engagement, may I meet the same
fate as my weapon ! Are you content ?"
" As the drooping flower with the rays that
restore it to strength and odour."
" Delay not an instant, then, but mount, and
flee ! I hear approaching the footsteps of those
who seek you. Haste ! Farewell ! The white
cabin on the hill. Night and day, onwards
* The great walUof China. Bartoli.
160 THE FALL OF
towards Karacorum ! Quit the park by the
north-eastern gate."
Tkanghia vaulted into his saddle, tightened
the girdle round his waist, and shook the reins.
His horse sprang forwards, dashed down the
hill, crossed the stream in the neighbourhood of
the grand khan so unceremoniously, that an
arrow was launched after him. The trees soon
concealed him from other weapons, and he
reached unmolested the north-eastern gate of
the park, which he found, fortunately, open,
and through which he passed, in a manner that
excited the surprise of its guards.
THE NAN SOUNG. 161
CHAPTER IX.
Among the capitals of mighty empires that have
perished until their site has become an object
of dispute for the learned, may be reckoned
Karacorum, once the seat of the Mogul empire,
but now, at the period of our tale, though
the residence of a viceroy, fast decaying. At
present, its buildings and its fortifications have
become so levelled with the soil, that nought
remains to indicate where reposed the court of
monarchs who have menaced the world.
The fate of the empires and towns founded
by the nomade nations of Asia much resemble
each other ; the former have always, the latter
usually, perished. Their vagabond habits, that
not the example of their most powerful monarchs
could subdue, fit them for conquest, but not for
retention. The cities, reared by their hands, that
162 THE FALL OF
have been erected in the steppes, are as soon
abandoned as the one imperious will that has
caused them to be inhabited ceases to be able to
enforce its enactments.
Within the walls of a house, a man of that
wandering race conceives he suffocates, and
continually dreads lest the roof should fall
upon him. He breathes only under his tent
of felt, beneath which he imagines he is se-
cure from most maladies, the most malignant
of which he firmly believes to originate in
the cities. With but few real wants, and,
owing to the diflBculty of transport across the
wastes he inhabits, rarely does commerce instruct
him in those that be artificial ; the simple shep-
herd lives rich if he possess a stud of a hundred
horses, and never destitute, for amid the steppes
wealth has not instructed men in the value of
the pittance necessary to relieve the necessities
of their fellows.
Tkanghia, accompanied by his guide, arrived
in Karacorum, and awaited there the appear-
ance of Mouyangtse. At first, his attention
was won by the novelty of the various sights
he beheld ; but he gradually began to en-
tertain apprehensions as the days wore on,
THE NAN SOUNG. 163
and the Tatar came not. He feared lest
Mouyangtse had been unable to fulfil his pro-
mise, and then began to entertain suspicions
that a friendly deceit had been practised upon
him to induce him to secure his safety. Yield-
ing to the impetuosity of his character, he de-
termined to return to Shangtu ; but when on
the point of putting this resolve into execution,
his design was most agreeably frustrated by the
arrival of Mouyangtse, with Luseynah and Lin-
peytsin, and accompanied by about a dozen
guards.
Whatever might be the sentiments of the
party at thus happily meeting, their conduct
was entirely controlled by the cold forms of
Chinese ceremony ; and between them passed
but some formal and mutual inquiries concern-
ing each other's healths ; and then Mouyangtse
related the history of the ladies' escape from
the palace of Shangtu. It had been effected
through the innocent instrumentality of Kha-
tun-i-gurun, who had permitted her charges to
enter the royal park, in which they had evaded
her vigilance, and from which they escaped,
aided by Mouyangtse.
Delay was dangerous ; but it was necessary
164 THE FALL OF
to allow the ladies some days' rest to recover
from their fatigue, which time Mouyangtse occu-
pied in purchasing a few dromedaries, and re-
mounting those of his followers whose horses
had suiFered from the journey.
The day of departure arrived, and, with the
first blush of dawn, the whole party were on
horseback, and proceeded towards the gates of
the city. The ladies were clad in long woollen
robes, dyed of a variety of colours, and muslin
shawls were wrapped round their faces and
heads. Tkanghia and Mouyangtse were habited
like the superior retainers of some Tatar lord.
On their heads, and falling below their shoulders,
was a hood of mail, composed of steel rings.
They wore jackets of the same armour, the
sleeves of which terminated below the fingers ;
the under part of each arm being further de-
fended by plates of steel, reaching from the
elbow to the wrist, and which, in a melee, could
serve as a shield. To the left of their saddles
were attached their bows of horn ; and to the
right, their quivers, filled with difierent species
of arrows, some being short and blunt, intended
but for the chase of birds ; those of war being
THE NAN SOUNG. 166
three feet in length, and with a very long barb,
and plumed -with four eagles' feathers. The
escort — either deserters from the Mogul de-
tachments warring in the Chinese provinces, for
their own private reasons, or who had become
so from attachment to Mouyangtse — were armed
with leather helmets and cuirasses covered with
plates of iron, lances, sabres, and bows.
At the city gates our party were delayed a
few minutes by the slow movement of a funereal
procession that was quitting the city, from
whence to the sepulchre a number of pavilions
had been erected/^^ hung with flowers, and in
each of which a feast of fruits, meats, and
liquors, was laid out for the refreshment of the
soul of the deceased, a young girl, the bier
being rested for a few minutes in each, to per-
mit her spirit to feed upon the essence of the
provisions, and the mourners upon the sub-
stance. It was late in the year for a funeral ;
for it was the custom of the Moguls to bury
their dead only in the spring and autumn ; but
on this occasion the ceremony had been de-
layed, to permit the arrival of relatives, who,
to a great number, were present, together with
166 THE FALL OF
musicians and priests. The last chaunted the
following words :
The -winter o'er thy spotless brow
Had spread its white, its fairest snow ;
With roses' bloom of Tchin's bright vale
Spring deck'd thy cheek, now wan and pale ;
Thou wokest from some infant dream,
That summer in thine eye might gleam.
"When droop the flowers on their stem,
Thou, too, didst droop to lie with them.
Hadst thou been vanquish'd in the race,
When flying in the nuptial chase,*"^
Thou hadst been mother of some sage,
Deep learned in the mystic page,
Or warrior, who o'er hill and plain
Had cast a long and endless chain.
The very spirits fear'd such sway !
And, maiden, snatch'd thy soul away.
Thou livedst — thy father's tents were glad,
But now — behold the uluss sad.
Flowers thou lovedst — then, spirit, turn,
And scent the aloes that we burn.
Friends of thy youth a feast prepare.
The last with them thou may est share ;
Feed on its essence, and then tread
The bright path of the virtuous dead.
The procession at last moved on, and the
travellers recommenced their journey, that, for
the present, tended northward in the direction
of the Altai mountains. But, before quitting
THE NAN SOUNG, 167
the suburbs of the city, they beheld another
exhibition of Tatar manners in a butcher
slaughtering an ox, according to the mode pre-
scribed by Genghis Khan in the ordinances he
had introduced among the Moguls.
The animal was held by the horns whilst its
fore and hind legs were being tied together ; it
was then cast upon its side, its belly ripped up,
and its heart torn out. One of the attendant
guards dismounted, and entered into a bargain
with the owner of the carcass for the blood and
intestines, by the Tatars esteemed a great treat,
and, until Genghis Khan in his ordinances per-
mitted it, never eaten but in secret, as it was an
indidgence prohibited under severe penalties.*
Such an exhibition was of but little interest
to the ladies ; not so to Tkanghia, who beheld
in it the wisdom of an excellent legislator en-
deavouring to accustom an uncivilized people
to laws by first enacting ordinances that inter-
fered but little in general life, leaving to his sons
the task of imposing more stringent ones ; a feat
less difficult with those who are habituated to
some control than with those who are not. In
* Petis, de la Croix, p. 104.
168 THE FALL OF
it he beheld the germ of that social order which
at the court of Kublai he had seen matured in
a way so flattering to his national vanity, as the
adoption by the Moguls of all the institutions
of his country, and of the same principles as
formed the basis of the Chinese government.
The last of the dwellings was left behind, and
before them stretched the broad and undulating
valleys that border the Onguin Pera, covered
with verdure, and richly sprinkled with flowers.
The party, fearing lest their foreign language
should excite disagreeable attention, had pro-
ceeded in silence ; but now, the ladies, feeling
themselves secure, loosed their tongues, with a
simultaneous exclamation of pleasure at the
view before them.
*' Did a people acquainted with the precepts
of the five King inhabit here," observed Lusey-
nah, " it might be asHoukuang, the granary of
an empire. How mournful that so rich a tract
should not be as a garden of fertility ! "
" Eather let us mourn, sister," replied Lin-
peytsin, " that it is not arid, as the deserts we
are about to cross, or that one uncultivatible
waste extended not from the borders of the
empire to the extreme verge of the earth !
THE NAN SOUNG. 169
Here pasture the horses that mount the northern
cavah-y for southern invasion ; and many other
pleasant places like this offer subsistence to
countless and barbarian hordes."
" Linpeytsin, thy ideas are fierce, and but
little in accordance with the merciful precepts
of the empire. The axe need not hew down
the tree because its branches be bare and un-
sightly during winter. Tyen has established it
as an immutable principle, that the evil which
afflicts us shall finally be converted into good,
as the good that delights us shall be into evil,
or the governors would become too desponding
at beholding all their efforts for the amelioration
of the people invariably contraried, or too arro-
gant, if their administration were ever to be
felicitous."
" Patience is a sentiment of which your
people are somewhat vainly proud," said Lin-
peytsin. " Tyen may be powerful to assist us,
but unless we stir in our own behalf, it can-
not but let us perish. Had Siuenty/'^ when
his conquests extended from the eastern to the
western ocean, rendered the whole country a
wilderness, the usurper Ouang-mang had never
beheld the empire he had seized ravaged by
VOL. II. I
170 THE FALL OF
the northern horsemen. Chi-Hoangty drove the
Hiongnu, whose power menaced him, many a
hundred lee from the border, and, as a barrier,
erected, with the lives of a multitude of men,
and at the expense of countless treasure, the
wall of ten thousand lee. Has it availed the
empire ? E^tans, Kin, and Moguls have passed
it with impunity, as many others have before ;
but what nation has ever invaded from the
north-west, where the desert of Gobi is the
boundary ? Had Chi-Hoangty united the desert
with the ocean on the north, the flower of the
centre had never had cause to regret the vicinity
of the northern nations."
'' Its afflictions may soon cease now," replied
Luseynah. *' Grave dangers are preparing for
the Mogul chief, in the rebelhon of his own
relatives ; and we may soon behold this Hou-
pelai* reduced to the same state as Chapolio,*^^
khan of the Turks."
" It might be so, if the empire were served
by another Tkangsun."
" The spirit of Tkangsun may not exist among
our enemies," said Luseynah, in an enthusiastic
* The Chinese name for Kublai.
THE NAN SOUNG. 171
tone ; " but were the road to distinction open,
and did not an ambitious and incompetent
minister close against the virtuous and deserving
the hall of honours, the empire would behold
arise for its defence ten thousand such as
Kouo-tsa-e,* and the fate of Houpelai would
resemble that of Ngan-lo-khan." ^"^
" May it be so, sister ; but your words have
roused within me the same sensations I ex-
perienced when my grandsire battled among the
hills of my beloved Corea. I was then but a
child, and maiden modesty did not separate me
from his side when surrounded by his warriors.
When you mention the names of heroes, I recall
the scenes I then beheld — a few score of men
^vithstand a host. Their fluttering banners, the
martial music, the surprise of treason, the last
desperate fight, and then the retreat of the few
survivors by the narrow j^ass, along which their
enemies did not dare pursue them. I have
seen the dying chief, to animate his men and
injure the foe until the last, collect in one eflfort
all that remained of strength, and hiu-l the
spear he plucked from his side against the
* Vide Note 125.
I 2
172 THE FALL OF
advancing ranks. Where was then the pohcy
of the emph'e ? — A few thousand men, accorded
in generous assistance, had re-assured the
hordes that still combated the aggressions of
the Moguls. The Corea would have been ren-
dered a respectful and firm ally, and in-
dependent nations would have been its barrier
to the north. You despised the danger, because
distant, and permitted your natural allies to be
subdued. The national vanity in which your
officials are educated, has, and will often pro-
cure misfortune to the empire. You conceive
it beneath you to trouble yourselves with
foreigners, so as to check the development of
their powers ; and, too haughty, you know not
how to temporize with a formidable foe."
'' Linpeytsin, thou art seditious ! " observed
Luseynah, with a smile. " Let us cease the
discussion of matters of which it becomes not
women to converse. The serenity that reigns
around has restored to my soul a tranquillity
it has not experienced since the accusation of
my father. I never behold a fair plain like
this without wishing I possessed the knowledge
of Chinnong, the second monarch of the six
founders of the empire,^'^ who knew the qualities
THE NAN SOUNG. J 73
of every plant, and in one day discovered seventy
that were poisonous, and the antidotes to their
venom." *
" For me," rejoined Linpeytsin, " flowers
please my eye by their colours, and my senses
by their odours. Let physicians, whose duty
it is, study their properties ; I desire not to
lose my hours. Already have I lost too many
in the studies of history I have undertaken to
please you. My spirits are joyous. Wilt join
me in a course ? " Without waiting for a reply,
the Oorean urged her horse into a gallop.
• Vide De Mailla, i. 13.
174 THE FALL OF
CHAPTER X.
The Tatchou Pira, that rises among the Altai
mountains, not far from the sources of the
Onguin Pira, flows almost due south, whilst the
latter river proceeds in an easterly direction.
After flowing about eighty miles, the Tatchou —
for Pira signifies river — enters among the
Palioutai Alin, a mountain range, where its
waters, collecting into one body, form a fair and
delightful lake^ about a hundred miles distant,
westerly, from the hill the Mogul sovereigns
had chosen for their sepulchre. Northward are
various branches of the Altai, whilst southward
extends an apparently boundless waste — the
desert of Gobi, or Shamo.
Towards morning, on the sixth day after
THE NAN SOUNG. 175
quitting Karacorum, our party of travellers
arrived among the Palioutai Alin. As they en-
tered the valley in which the lake lay, they all
presented a rather pitiable aspect of fatigue, for,
to shorten the distance, they had made a dash
through an arm of the desert, which extends
between the Onguin and Tatchou rivers.
Whilst the Tatar guard and their horses
hastened to refresh themselves with the cool
water of the lake, with friendly rivalry, Tkanghia
and Mouyangtse hastened to bear a portion of
the refreshing liquid to the ladies, with whom
the fellowship of danger had rendered them more
familiar.
Though Luseynah drank to their mutual
healths, yet Tkanghia hoped her gratitude was
more especially his, whilst Mouyangtse appro-
priated, in the same manner, the smile that
parted the lips of the Corean, whom he ad-
dressed.
'' Lady," he said, " I hope the desert has not
been ruder to you than the form of one so fair,
and frame so gentle, can well support."
Linpeytsin affected not to heed the compli-
ments of Mouyangtse, though a slight blush
tinged her cheek, and she said —
176 THE FALL OF
' It grieves me to behold how our horses
must have sujffered. Among my people, it would
be deemed imprudent to permit them to satisfy
their thirst so greedily."
'' Our horses resemble ourselves," replied
Mouyangtse ; *' too hardened by privation to
feel the effects of indulgence. .Either of the
steeds that bathes itself in yonder lake, by to-
morrow will have recovered its strength, and be
able to resume its journey."
" Would that Tyen had rendered you of the
same sentiments as your horses," rejoined the
Corean, " so that, contented with your own
pastures, you invaded not those of others."
" This," said Mouyangtse, '' is the fault of
our rulers, and not of ourselves : we follow
where they command. Our poverty and our
strength render the national movement effectual.
Then we but avenge the invasions of others."
" It is sad for the nations of the south that
the hordes know not the precepts of the sage,
Fansiuen — ' We should pardon the offences of
others, as we forgive ourselves our own.'* The
courage of the mind that sustains an affront is
* Vide Du Halde. ii. 272.
THE NAN SOUNG. 177
greater than that of the hand that avenges it,"
observed Luseynah.
'* Lady," repUed the Tatar, '' you have too
often had the advantage of me in argument for
me again to enter into dispute with one so
learned in the history of the south, and of the
nations of the north. According to the wish of
the grand khan, I have studied the characters
Pasepa*^® has composed ; but my memory is
treacherous, and but little do I now remember of
what I then learnt. With the bow and sabre
I was more successful."
" You might have been incited to greater
perseverance had you known the story of Li-pe,"
said Luseynah. "■ He was unable to master the
same studies, and once had given them up in
despair. Eeturning to his home, he encountered
an aged woman, who was filing a bar of iron.
He inquired of her what she sought. ' To form
me a needle,' she replied. Li-pe took the hint
that his favouring genius had procured him to
excite him to perseverance. He returned to his
studies, pursued them with stubborn resolution,
which he found as successful an aid as the most
perfect memory or natural talent."*
* Vide Du Halde, ii. 272.
I 3
1T8 THE FALL OF
" My fate gave me no such lessons. My
genius left me, without assistance, to struggle
against my destiny," observed Mouyangtse.
Whilst this colloquy was proceeding, Tkang-
hia had been employing himself preparing a
light meal, assisted by some of the guards.
The others occupied themselves pitching the
tents of the party in a circle round the two
destined to be occupied by the ladies, which
they effected with the usual expedition of a
Tatar encampment, finding the materials for
the erection of their temporary habitations in
the saddles they took from off their horses'
backs.
Each crupper consisted of a cloak of felt,
rolled compactly up, together with several
sticks. The first, being unfolded, was extended
upon the last, and formed a small but com-
modious tent. The ujoper joart of the saddle,
consisting of wadded woollen cloth, stretched
out and formed a mattress, whilst the under, a
ball of cotton, served as a pillow.
A fire had been kindled, and above it was
suspended a large caldron, made out of a bull's
hide.^''^ In this was put to stew the flesh of a fawn
killed during the march, and of which Tkanghia
THE NAN SOUNG. 179
selected the most delicate portions, and, min-
gling -with them some spices with which he had
provided himself before quitting Karacormn,
by the dish he concocted, proved himself most
pleasantly an adept in the culinary art, accord-
ing to Chinese taste. This, with a drink pre-
pared from milk cake,^®° formed the meal of the
four superior members of the party ; the others
divided among themselves the remains of the
fawn's carcass — not, however, that they pre-
ferred it to the slices of dried horse-flesh they had
with them, which, to strangers, was as disgust-
ing, from its odour and colour, to the stomach,
as terrible, from its toughness, to the teeth.
The meal being concluded, conversation was
resumed ; for Tkanghia and Mouyangtse had
eaten separately from the ladies, in the course
of which, Linpeytsin inquired of the Tatar con-
cerning the nature of the journey that lay before
them, and he replied —
" Lady, we have to traverse a vast desert,
swarming with a multitude of dangers. In some
places, a short, dry herbage is spread, where
the flocks of a few tribes find subsistence, and
where pastures an enormous species of wild
bull, so strong and fierce, that one has been
180 THE FALL OF
known to bear a horseman from his saddle ;*
and here also antelopes are found. These
tracks are like islands in the ocean, at great
distance from each other, and generally occur
in the neighbourhood of wells, the water of
which, though bad to the taste of those accus-
tomed to better fare, yet is drinkable. About
these are also found birds of the grey plover
kind, so unaccustomed to the sight of man, as
easily to be taken. The rest of the desert is
either all sandy plain or stony and barren
mountains, over which the locust never hovers,*"
and where the horseman is so chary of his
drink, that he never pours upon his horse's
mane the accustomed libation to the spirits ;t
and in which dwell neither man nor beast, save a
few criminals who take refuge there, and derive
a precarious subsistence from the plunder of tra-
vellers, and tigers, whose ferocity and rapacity
is scarcely to be less dreaded. But what is a
subject of greater terror to the traveller through
these dreadful wastes than the fear of perishing
from want of water, by the hands of the ban-
Vide Thevenot, embassy of Shahrokh.
+ Vide Ber. in Rub. p. 10.
THE NAN SOUNG. 181
ditti, or the jaws of the tigers, are the super-
natural beings who inhabit them, and who
appear to be actuated by the most implacable
hatred of the human race by the cunning and
unceasing devices they employ for the destruc-
tion of such as approach their haunts. When
a traveller remains behind his friends, until
these last are hid from his sight by an inter-
vening eminence, one of these spirits calls him
in the voice of some well-known companion ;
he follows the decejDtive sound away from the
right track, and jDerishes miserably. At times,
they actually assume the appearance of some
comrade, engage the unwary traveller in con-
versation, lead him from the road, and then
leave him to perish. Sometimes, these spirits
assume the appearance of a body of armed men,
who approach the caravan, and this, apprehen-
sive of being attacked and plundered, takes to
flight, when the greater part are lost. Marvel-
lous and almost surpassing belief are the stories
creditably related of these spirits of the desert,
who at times fill the air with the clash of arms,
the beating of drums, and with a thousand
other glamouring sights and sounds, by which
they frequently effect their object — the destruc-
182 THE FALL OF
tion of the traveller.^^^ Fear not, however,
ladies ; with the assistance of the great spirit of
good, we shall defeat their evil machinations.
From peril of all mortal foes, hanish the appre-
hension ; for them, we possess well-stocked
quivers, our lances, and our sabres."
" May it please Tyen to conduct us in safety,"
observed Luseynah.
"Would," rejoined Tkanghia, "that I were
acquainted with the ceremonies of the Hoshang !
I might, by burning gold and silver paper in
honour of these same spirits, humour them into
favouring us."
" Scoff not," said Mouyangtse, in a serious
tone. " If you credit not what I have said, at
least retain your incredulity in your breast.
Your levity can be of no advantage, save
you consider as such your fellows regarding
you with horror for impiety, and the superior
powers with indignation."
" I knew not that the son of Tkangchikia be-
longed to the athiests' creed," observed Lin-
peytsin.
" Had a tranquil pool suddenly become a
tossing ocean before my eyes, I had not been
more surprised than to hear such an accusation
THE NAN SOUNG. 183
composed from the words I have uttered," re-
plied Tkangbia, with a smile. " The existence
of supernatural beings is admitted by all our
sages and literati, save those who be possessed
by daring designs of innovation upon the prin-
ciples of justice and reason that constitute the
government of heaven. With this belief, I still
may doubt whether Tyen would permit whom
it had created to assist in ameliorating the
situation of the human species to become
its destructors, and that by unfair artifice and
guile."
We are sure the reader will gladly escape the
infliction of our relating the theological dispute
that ensued, especially as both Tkanghia and
Mouyangtse were averse to terminating a contro-
versy in which the first had for supporter Lu-
seynah, and the second Linpeytsin. It will be
sufficient that we say neither convinced the other,
and that it was concluded by the ladies retiring
to their tents, perhaps not without a suspicion
of the ruse their admirers had mutually and
tacitly practised to retain their society.
Tkanghia also proceeded to his tent; but
Mouyangtse, before seeking his, performed an
incantation to raise the spirits of the Tatar
184 THE FALL OF
guard, somewhat depressed by the fatigue they
had undergone, and still more by the tales they
had heard of the desert they were about to
enter, all of which they implicitly believed.
Having scattered a small quantity of water
in the direction of each of the cardinal points,
as well as towards heaven and the earth, Mou-
yangtse took two sticks, each about two spans
in length, and upon which he inscribed certain
characters. One of these was supposed to re-
present the desert and its dangers ; the other,
the fortune of his own party ; and to this, un-
seen by the others, he attached a horsehair line.
The Tatars being grouped around, but at a
distance that, aided by the gloom of evening,
precluded their discovering the ruse practised
upon them, Mouyangtse proceeded to recite a
prayer, in which he besought the divinities to
manifest their designs. Presently one of the
sticks moved, approached, and circled round
the other, upon which it at last mounted. This
was the one that represented themselves, and
thus assured them of prosperity.^^ Contented
with the result of the diviuation, each Tatar
retired to his tent, after appointing one of their
number as sentry over the horses that were left
to pasture.
THE NAN SOUNG. 186
Night had now fallen heavily around. The
mountains that girt the valley seemed but huge
masses of mist. The stars shone brightly, as
though they took pleasure in beholding them-
selves reflected in the tranquil lake, and not a
sound was heard to disturb the travellers' re-
pose ; to enjoy which we leave them, to meet
them again in the desert.
186 THE FALL OF
CHAPTER XI.
. . . . " Arido e il labbro, e poca
Acqua non trovo che la sete estingua.
Arbor non v' ha, muta ogni valle all' onda
Che impoveri nell' avenoso letto
Pui la vita non mormora."
Arnolda da Brescia, (Nicolini.)
Our party of travellers had quitted the Pali-
outai Alin, and the lake formed by the Tatchou
Pira, and commenced their journey towards the
oasis of Noyen-kara-alin, or " Mountain of the
black Noyen/' a route due south, and of about
one hundred and fifty miles. For the first half
of that distance, they found the wells frequent,
and the supply of water, though bad, yet suffi-
cient. The position of the stars and a map of
the country^®* — a copy of an old one com230sed
THE NAN SOUNG. 187
under the auspices of the Turkish khans —
serving as their guides.
On the third morning, they quitted the well by
which they had reposed, and filhng their water-
skins, prepared to cross a long tract of desert,
near thirty miles, before they should encounter
another cistern.
At first, the ground over which they rode was
firm beneath their horses' hoofs, and there was
something to remind them of the existence of
their fellows, whilst the pyramid of small stones
remained in sight that indicated the vicinity of
the well ; but this presently had disapjDeared,
and they trod the desert.
It was dreadful the passage of that arid waste.
Its glare was blinding to the eye, and in its appa-
rent eternity the voice seemed lost, no mocking
echo returning the sounds he proffered to the
speaker. The entireness of solitude was there —
neither habitation, man, nor moving thing, save
their own small cavalcade, crossed the trackless
waste, in which the impression of their foot-
steps was lost almost as soon as made ; neither
bird nor insect fanned the hot and sluggish air
that brooded over the vast desolation.
188 THE FALL OF
For those who voyage on the water, there are
comrades with whom at all hours one may con-
verse. In a good ship, the tempest is not such
an object of terror. A bird, a floating piece of
sea- weed, or a plank, are all subjects of specu-
lation and of diversion, whilst the heaving of
the waters, or, in the deadest calm, the sporting
of the fish beneath its glassy surface, speak to
the voyager of life. He is not isolated from his
fellows — he still feels himself a part — an asso-
ciate of animated nature.
But when for the first time transported into
the desert, the boldest mind must be awed.
Its possessor feels himself a solitary worm,
invading the domains of death. Even in the
most numerous caravan that has ever crossed
the sands, the fear of fatiguing unnecessarily
the animal he rides, restricts him to his own
place in the long procession, and he is solitary.
However fierce may be the heat, and calm the
air, he asks for no change — that very stillness
is his safety. With the wind, would rise the
sand, that moves a tomb for thousands. For-
tunate for him is it when all around is still,
however hateful that narcotic sameness may be !
A huge mass of black rock marked the posi-
THE NAN SOUNG. 189
tion of the long-wished-forwell ; and the escort,
urging their horses forwards, reached its margin.
A yell of despair burst from that half score of
men, inured from childhood to danger and
privation — the water was gone !
Mouyangtse, as he heard that cry, instantly
divined its cause, and urging his own steed for-
wards, he arrived by the side of the hollow,
where the water had been used to lay, to find
men and horses fighting and struggling in a
heap together, to lick the last drops of moisture
that might be upon the gravelly bottom.
Casting the combatants aside, Mouyangtse
addressed to the human portion some words of
anger and command ; and they, immediately
recognising his authority, led their horses away.
Two were directed by Mouyangtse to remain,
and dig a hole in the sand, into which was
placed a piece of cotton cloth, which, as often
as saturated, was wrung. The water thus col-
lected was apportioned out ; but the quantity
was scarcely sufficient for a draught to each of
the party and the cattle.
In this dilemma, Mouyangtse consulted with
Tkanghia ; and they were both of opinion that
it were better to push on during the night, as
190 THE FALL OF
soon as the horses should have partially rested,
as they would then suffer less from the heat,
and by the following morning would be near
another well ; meanwhile as much water as pos-
sible was collected ; and after a rest of two
hours, the party were again in motion.
If the desert be terrible during the day, the
emotions it excites during the hours of night are
rather pleasurable than otherwise. The death-
like silence is in union with the hour. The
stars seem as so many celestial beings placed
in the heavens, for the express purpose of cheer-
ing the traveller's way. The noiseless step of
the cavalcade he accompanies accords with the
hour of rest ; whilst he feels himself refreshed
by the coolness of the temperature, that is so
chilly, he is glad to envelop himself in his
mantle.
The stars now waned before the advancing
day. In the east, a bright pink shade betokened
the dawn ; the sun arose ; and the party, by a
simultaneous movement, halted to regard the
golden orb ; but not a bosom wished it welcome.
Many of other nations may have beheld it at
the same moment, and felt grateful to the Pro-
vidence that formed that star to fertilize their
THE NAN SOUNG. 191
fields ; but the travellers in the desert beheld
in it the instrument of suffering ; the very-
brutes hung their heads, and seemed to sorrow
at its appearance.
Vainly was the horizon examined, in search
of the landmark that should indicate the locality
of the well they sought ; but it was not to be
seen. An expression of despondency might
be observed upon the countenance of each of
the party, though Mouyangtse, stifling his own
sensations, endeavoured to re-animate them,
reminding his Tatars of the result of the divi-
nation he had practised, and assuring the others
that the well could not be distant. The journey
was again resumed, so that the precious moments
before the sun's heat should become fearfully
oppressive, might not be lost.
The orb continued to ascend, till, from an
almost perpendicular height, it darted the blaze
of its heat upon the travellers. Luseynah and
the Corean were preserved by the muslin shawls,
wrapped round their faces and their heads, from
much of the sufferings their companions en-
dured. All proceeded in silence, the scene not
being such as could provoke conversation. The
sky was cloudless, and, viewed through the
192 THE FALL OF
medium of the dry atmosphere, seemed of
poUshed silver. Around, stretched a broad
waste of light sand, the uniformity of which was
alone broken by the mounds and miniature
hills the winds in their passage had heaped
together. The burning particles raised by the
passage of the travellers penetrated through
their dresses, blistering the body as they invaded
each pore of the skin, and irritating the eyes
till the sufferer was ready to tear them forth for
the agony they occasioned.
Now, the more imprudent of the party, whose
mouths, in Arab phrase, too often had been
glued to their water-skins, began to experience
the torments of the desert's thirst. Their heated
brains presented pictures of cool retreats, of
shady arbours, and of murmuring fountains —
phantom figures that strained their parched
throats to bursting.
Others, whose constitutions sustained them
better, alternately bit their lips, their fingers,
and their tongue, in a vain endeavour to excite
the salivary glands to spread a little moisture
over their mouths. The skin of their faces was
scorched, their eyes bloodshot, and their black
and cracked lips so stiffened, that they could
THE NAN SOTTNG. 193
not, for the life, be closed against the burning
air. The horses stumbled on with dilated
nostrils, and their blackened tongues hanging
from their mouths, whilst the veins of their
neck were distended to bursting. Several of
the sumpter-horses had fallen, or remained be-
hind ; and one with its rider staggered and fell,
gasped, and died. The horseman, without
strength to extricate himself, in a hoarse, low
tone implored assistance ; but it was not to be
accorded ; his fellows were too selfish to delay,
and he was left to perish.
It was an hour past mid-day, and the tra-
vellers still endeavoured to proceed. They
felt convinced that they must have deviated
from their path during the night, yet they hoped
that they might recover it. Mouyangtse, feel-
ing his own horse stagger beneath him, dis-
mounted, and with a jerk of the rein, cast it
upon its side. With the point of his sword, he
opened one of the veins in its neck, placed his
lips to the wound, and drank with pleasure the
blood that spirted into his mouth.
The other Tatars imitated the example of
their chief, but not with equal fortune. The
brains of some reeled with the exertion of dis-
VOL. n. K
194 THE FALL OF
mounting, and they sank upon the sand. The
others, -when they had drunk, having cast a
hopeless glance around, seated themselves de-
sparingly on the sand.
Tkanghia and Mouyangtse had either of them
husbanded their portions of water, and having
pitched two tents for the ladies, they presented
to the latter, who appeared in the last stage of
fatigue, two well-filled cups. With regard to
themselves, they did not drink, but contented
themselves with moistening their lips and
mouths, and drawing a small portion of water
up their nostrils, and then seated themselves
silently in the shade afi'orded by the tents.
From this situation they were roused by an
exclamation of one of the Tatar guards, and
rising, they beheld him pointing with out-
stretched arm. Looking in the same direction,
they beheld approaching them the figures of a
numerous caravan.
"We are saved! Tyen has procured us suc-
cour !" cried Tkanghia, in joyful accents. "I
will proceed myself to meet and guide them
hither."
" Stir not !" rejoined Mouyangtse, exerting
the Hjttle strength he retained to detain the
THE NAN SOUNG. 195
Other. " Stir not. It is a lie of the spirits
of the deserts. Those are not human forms,
but phantom portraits, assumed to lure you to
more speedy death."
'' Would you, by foolish, superstitious fancies,
delay the arrival of the so needed succour to the
ladies either of us would serve ? Free me, Mou-
yangtse, or you will anger me beyond en-
durance."
"Threaten as you will, Tkanghia, but you
must cleave me with your sabre before you seek
yon demon company. Ay ; see, even now they
begin to fade, imagining their deceit to be of
no avail."
Tkanghia gazed with astonishment as he
beheld the figures of the mirage dissolving into
air; and turning to Mouyangtse, he said —
''Truly, my brother by adoption, thou hast
performed thy part well. Had I obeyed my
own impulse, I had been destroyed by this de-
ception. Yet how may such things be ?"
*' It would be impious for us to seek the :
revelation of what the great spirit has himself
shrouded in mystery."
"And since this be a cheat, is there left no
hope ? Must we — must she, too, perish ?"
k2
196 THE FALL OF
" Tkanghia, there still is hope, for that never
deserts the soul endowed with valour. Know
that the spirits can alone assume the forms of
such travellers as be within their haunts.
Others cross the sands besides ourselves, and
may be distant now but a few hours."
"From what quarter would they approach ?"
eagerly inquired Tkanghia. '*My limbs are
weak, but still I could crawl a few lee to meet
them."
"Beneath the sun, and as you are, your
strength would not bear yoa over the sand half
a score of bow shots. Kemain tranquil here.
The strangers approach us ; and if the great
spirit guide them, they will find us in their track.
If not "
Mouyangtse did not name the alternative, for
which it was necessary to prepare submission ;
but Tkanghia understood him.
Again they seated themselves in the shelter
of the tents ; but these they did not dare to enter,
for they felt convinced that the sight of the
water-skins within would be too much for their
self-denial, even when assisted by love. Once
before the sun had set, Mouyangtse rose, and
staggered to where be had left his horse, intend-
THE NAN SOUNG. 197
ing to suck another draught from its veins ; but
all pulsations in the creature's arteries had
ceased.
The sight around was terrible. Some of the
guard lay dead or senseless. The brains of
those who still retained their faculties wandered,
and they sat or reclined, moaning and chatter-
ing— and the burden of their speech was water.
Again it was night, but the desert around our
party was not solitary. Other travellers were
nigh. The camels' bells sounded. The pas-
sengers of the desert drew near. Marvelling,
they arrested their course around the suffering
party. With Tatar hospitality, they instantly
pitched their tents, and proceeded to dispense
their succours to whomever they could avail.
* * * *
They who had thus opportunely rescued our
party were a horde of the Kitan nation, who,
after having rendered good service to the
Moguls, in assisting them to conquer the Kin,
were now journeying southward to gain the
town of Etzina, a city on the frontiers of the
present Chinese province of Shensee, and where
those who designed to cross the desert usually
assembled ; their object being to unite them-
198 THE FALL OF
selves with those of their nation who had pre-
ceded them, and founded in the west the
kingdom of Kara Kitay, and which had been
reduced by the Moguls.
Though respect for the claims upon their
hospitality of those who had so accidentally
become their guests deterred the Kitans from
inquiring from our party the motives that had
induced them to enter the desert, so ill provided
to encounter its dangers, whilst they continued
so extremely enfeebled by the privations they
had undergone, yet, upon their arrival among
the Noyen kara-alin, and perceiving the strength
of their guests to be restored, the Kitans, per-
haps induced by some suspicions with regard
to those whom they sheltered, determined to
interrogate them in public assembly.
The chief of the horde was seated upon a
small square piece of felt carpet ; but he was the
only one thus indulged. The subordinate chiefs
stood ranged behind him, and the others occu-
pied places at a respectful distance.
A few paces in advance of the chief stood
Tkanghia and Mouyangtse; and a little to the
left of these, Luseynah and Linpeytsin.
A dead silence reigned as the chief spoke.
THE NAN SOUNG. ] 99
in the dialect of the Chinese northern provinces,
and which all who heard him comprehended ;
those of his own nation from having resided,
themselves and their fathers, so long in the land
where it was spoken, as to have left it the heri-
tage of their own names ; and Mouyangtse and
the Corean, from its similarity to the purer lan-
guage they had either learned.
" Who are you," said the chief, " whom we
have found amid the desert, your tongues like
heated plates of iron, and who but for the suc-
cour afforded, by this had perished ?"
" My father's name is Tkangchikia, and his
residence wherever the barbarian hordes assault
the throne of heaven," replied Tkanghia.
"A man of Manjin," observed the chief,
somewhat contemptuously. '' But you," he
continued, addressing Mouyangtse, " you are
from the north, by the tongue my followers have
heard you speak ?"
" Chief of the horde, I am of Mogul birth —
my name, Mouyangtse.''
''And these," pursued the chief, indicating
Luseynah and the Corean, "who are they ?"
Mouyangtse hesitated to reply. The mode of
interrogation adopted towards his party had
200 THE FALL OF
from the first surprised and alarmed him. He
knew the act of which he had been guilty would
appear unpardonable to theKitan. Not, however,
that he feared for himself, but lest the Kitan,
indignant at the offence committed towards the
majesty of the Mogul sovereign, might deliver
the ladies and Tkanghia into the power of the
Moguls; in which case, for himself he knew
there would be death, and for the others, some
most severe punishment.
The Kitan chief observed his embarrassment,
and bending a penetrating look upon his coun-
tenance, he said — " Thou art strangely con-
fused. Why dost thou not answer my question,
albeit simple. Does it appear so strange, that
we are surprised at beholding, thus far from
their usual haunts and pasturages, and in un-
precedented companionship, the wolf and the
sheep ?"
This speech reassured Mouyangtse, who con-
ceived hopes that the story of his flight was not
known to his interrogator, and he replied —
" She who stands to the right is of Tchin, the
other is a Corean."
*' When her home is in the east, how comes
she to be thus amid the sands of the west ?''
pursued the chief.
THE NAN SOUNG. 201
'^ An official of Chinsan Peyen had taken her
prisoner and conveyed her to the capital of the
north. She is sister of him who stands beside
me, with whom I have sworn the oath of
brotherhood. He implored me to save his
sister from what he regarded as pollution. I
complied. And say, oh, chief! if I have acted
wrongly."
" With him you have observed your faith,"
said the chief, in a severe tone ; " but with your
people you have disregarded it. Listen, ye
strangers! Our tents have accorded you pro-
tection, for what claim is more sacred than that
of hospitality ? yet must the shepherd deny it to
the tiger, so must a Elitan withhold it from a
traitor. Ye, who are of Chinese birth, have but
obeyed the promptings of your natures to fly
from servitude, nor may we re-rivet your chains;
from Etzina ye are free to proceed whither ye
will. For thee, who, being born beneath the
tents, didst design abandoning your people,
who possessest a traitor's soul, thy wants shall
be supplied whilst with us ; but thou must be
delivered into the hands of thy people, that
they may judge and award thee what they may
deem fit. Born in the Corea, thou art also a
k3
202 THE FALL OF
slave of the emperor of the north," the chief
continued, addressing Linpeytsin. " An honest
man may no more become an accomplice of
robbers than may we assist thy escape. Thou
must also be surrendered."
*' Surely the rehgious observance of an oath
cannot constitute treachery ! Chief, if you act
thus, you violate the hospitality you have
afforded us," cried Tkanghia.
*' Peace, young man," replied the chief,
sternly. '' Neither my years, station, nor sen-
timents, would permit me to be guilty of any
act of violation. Ee-conduct them to their
tents !"
THE NAN SOUNG. 203
CHAPTER XII.
" And shall their triumph soar o'er all
The schemes deep laid to work their fall ?
No ! deeds, which prudence might not dare,
Appal not vengeance and despair."
ROKEBY.
Meanwhile, grave events had taken place in
the empire. The emperor Tutsong had died,
leaving several children, but two only by his
legitimate empress. The youngest of these, a
child of four years of age, Kyatsetao had caused
to be proclaimed emperor, and 'the mother,
regent, considering that he thus assured him-
self the retention of the power he possessed for
a greater period of time than if he had elevated
the elder to the throne. His influence over the
mind of the regent he esteemed sufficient to
procure him, during the minority, the same
204 THE FALL OF
control in the state as he had exercised during
the Uves of the two preceding emperors, whilst
the prospect of his so long retaining absolute
power would serve to damp the energies of his
enemies, and facilitate the prosecution of those
more ambitious and treasonable projects, the
thoughts of which never abandoned him; but,
though his policy was well calculated, it failed
him.
The Tatar general, Chinsan Beyan, with a
numerous army, invaded the empire. Masking
Nganlo, a town of Houkuang, ably defended by
Tkangchikia, father of Tkanghia, he crossed
the Yantse-kiang, to the consternation of the
Chinese, who, until then, had regarded his
progress w^ith apathy, considering that river
an impassable barrier to his progress, and their
dismay was considerably increased when they
beheld the conduct of their own officials, who
delivered up the towns committed to their
charge without even awaiting a summons ; a
conduct originated in some by the policy of
Kublai, who continued each of these traitors in
their appointments ; in others, from despairing
of succour in case they defended themselves, or
from personal spleen with regard to Kyatsetao.
THE NAN SOUNG. 205
The last, vain, vindictive, cowardly, and
treacherous, without a single quality to fit him
for the post he filled, beheld the ranks of his
enemies increase in proportion as the successes
of the Tatars shook his popularity ; whilst the
empress regent was daily besieged with petitions,
certainly not indited by his friends, which
prayed her to appoint him to the command of
an army to oppose the " barbarian rebels."
Unable longer to oppose the storm, the
prime minister reluctantly assumed the com-
mand, and to procure the funds necessary for a
mighty efi*ort, increased tenfold the number of
his opponents, by decreeing a general tax upon
every member of the empire, from the highest
prince to the hoshang or priest, a measure that
gave the final blow to his popularity.
At the head of one hundred and thirty
thousand men, and accompanied by a numerous
fleet, Kyatsetao encountered the Mogul army on
the banks of the Yantse Kiang ; and scarce can
the Tatar onslaught, and the immediate and
disorderly flight of the Chinese, be dignified
with the title of a battle.
Upon Kyatsetao's return to Hancheyufu, he
found that his defeat had been productive of the
206 THE FALL OF
very worst consequences. Numbers, who had
previously concealed the enmity they bore him,
now threw off their mask, and appeared as his
declared opponents. His friends were fearful
of appearing as such to one who seemed deserted
by fortune, whilst the parasites, who once had
crowded to his court, deserted him in one body.
Not a word could he utter in his exculpation,
so loud and unanimous were the clamours of
his enemies, charging him with treason and
incompetency, and demanding his deposition.
Whither he turned, he found himself avoided or
insulted : a sad change for one who had beheld,
during his days of power, the father of the
present emperor rise and remain standing until
he had crossed the threshold, when quitting
the imperial presence.*
His vindictive mind was enraged to the
utmost. A thousand wild schemes floated
through his brain ; but a coward is seldom
resolute, and without the support of some firmer
mind, he felt incapable of determining upon any
step.
Vainly he looked around for some adviser.
* Vide De Mailla, ix. 317.
THE NAN SOUNG. 207
The lowest ofl&cers attached to his personal
tribunal had been disgusted by his former
haughty and tyrannical conduct, and held them-
selves aloof. As a last resource, he determined
to apply to one whom he had once favoured,
and latterly had entirely neglected, the female,
Leeyunnian.
Privately, without either official robes, or
the insignia of his dignity, lest these should
expose him to insult on his passage, he pro-
ceeded, in a close chair, to the dwelling of the
courtezan.
Leeyunnian, when she beheld herself deserted
by Tkanghia, first, as is usual with women, had
vented her passion in tears, but presently, when
she heard that her quondam lover had quitted
her for the sake of another, for whom, also, he
had undertaken a perilous mission out of the
boundaries of the empire, her anger had been
converted into intense hatred, and she had also
long been meditating plans of vengeance, each
as infeasible as another, and cast aside as soon
as imagined.
The minister arrived, and the lady, as soon as
informed of the unexpected visit, having hastily
arrayed herself, proceeded to meet Kyatsetao in
208 THE FALL OF
the outer court ; and the latter, who not long
since would have regarded such a manifestation
of respect with indifference, now felt as grateful
and pleased as some boy-king at the first vivas
of his subjects.
Kyatsetao having entered the private apart-
ments of Leeyunnian, cast himself upon the
embroidered fauteuil, and, with an effort at
pleasantry, so discordant with his feelings, that
the tones of his voice sickened him as he spoke,
he said — "So, Leeyunnian, precious jewel
of my soul, that my eyes behold more valuable
than jade, you imagined my heart had forgotten
the influence of your charms. Behold, I return
to thee, as a bird to the nest it has forsaken.
But I fear me that the gallant youth with whom
you were so long engaged in dalliance has
effaced from your memory the duty and grati-
tude you owe to your first and faithful lover.
Momentary was the shade that passed over
the countenance of Leeyunnian. It might have
originated in anger, at the recollection of Tkan-
ghia, or in contempt for the assertions of her
visitor, the falsity of which she well appreciated.
" My heart," she replied, '' is like the mirror
when you command it to reflect an image, but
THE NAN SOUNG. 209
its recollections of yourself are durable as the
carving that decorates the frame."
" Your lessons at Yancheyu-fu were not ill
studied," rejoined the minister. "Is it pos-
sible that any one can remain faithful to my
sunken fortunes ? The star has fallen from the
heavens. Can any regard it longer with admi-
ration ? Is the breast of a woman more sin-
cere than that of a man ? Ah !" he continued,
bitterly, grasping his knee with his hand, '' all
have deserted me, as swallows desert the eaves
of the dwelling that is about to fall — as the
wild ducks desert the plains of the north, when
the storms of winter despoil them of their ver-
dure. Oh, that I could tend them the nets of
the south, and pursue them with full quivers.
I would launch the arrows of vengeance till
they covered the earth the depth of a man.
May the malediction of heaven, and of the five
elements, ahght upon them. May every turning
of their paths be enlightened by the gleams of
shooting stars, omens of disaster and miserable
fortune."*
'* Surely, the highest minister of the state is
not daunted by the presumption of a few vile
* Vide Note 142.
210 THE FALL OF
men. Still does he hold the most lofty position
in the empire, and, like a hawk, may stoop
upon the noisy birds that dare to disturb his
repose."
" Kather am I like to a fish in a pond that is
surrounded by lofty hills, whose summits are
toppling over, and momentarily threaten to
crush me."
" Let them bow their heads," rejoined Leeyun-
nian. " It is thus an inferior testifies his
respect to a superior. Convert yourself into a
worm, and patiently perforate their hearts, until
you reach their disjointed summits ; or rise like
some great bird of prey, and construct yourself
a dwelling with the very masses they hurl at
you for your destruction."
*' Leeyunnian, your words are fitted but for
the ear of one whose heart is of iron. Mine is
of water, and boils, for it scalds me with anguish.
Dost remember the tale of Ouang-mang, he who
usurped the throne of the Han ? After a long
course of prosperity, he was finally overtaken
by disastrous fortune. When the moment of his
ruin had arrived, he entered the ancestral hall,
in the palace of his former masters, and walking
round it, cried, ' Had Tyen given me courage,
THE NAN SOUNG. 211
of what avail \«'Ould be the power of the princes
of Han ?' * With him, I say : Had Tyen given
me courage, what adversaries could I fear? Oh,
wherefore has not Tyen mingled with my con-
stitution somewhat of northern intrepidity ?"
"Blame not Tyen, great minister I" observed
Leeyunnian, to whose mental vision had ap-
peared the first rude sketch of a plan of ven-
geance. "Proffer not words of discontent
against the decrees of destiny. The tower of
to-day shall be rendered prostrate by the mor-
row's lightnings, and the humble clay on which
it stood be worked into precious porcelain to
adorn the cabinets of princes. Kemember that
the serpent crawls, the bolder tiger springs ;
but the insidious bite of the one is deadly as
the fangs of the other. You have related to me
one tale of history, I will tell you another. In
the reign of Eyulkchi-hoangty, the third em-
peror of the dynasty of Tsin, the eunuch
Tchao-kao had arrived at the highest power in
the empire, whilst his fortune was envied, and
secretly caballed against by many whom he de-
termined, by an act of well-timed severity, to
reduce to silence. With this design, he pre^
* Vide De MaiUa, iii. 261.
212 THE FALL OF
sented a stag to the emperor, calling it a horse.
The monarch laughed, and appealing to those
around him, inquired whether it were a stag or a
horse. Some said the former, some the latter.
The eunuch marked all those who called it a
stag, and had them put to death.* Be this
example imitated by you, and let your enemies
cease to breathe."
" For me, there is no necessity to imagine a
device to unmask my enemies, and make them
declare themselves. They are numerous and
avowed, and are arrayed against me with the
regularity of chessmen. The example you pro-
pose for my imitation is unfortunate. Tchao-
kao perished at the hand of the next monarch
to Eyulkchi-hoangty. Yet, I like the idea. A
massacre of all. It would be pleasing, though
scarcely satisfy the thirst for vengeance that
chokes me. It is necessary to consider. It
may be possible."
'•' Possible !" exclaimed Leeyunnian, gazing
intently upon the chief minister's countenance,
and noting with anxiety the irresolute workings
of the muscles. ''It is easily practicable. You
still retain the favour of the empress regent.
* Vide De MaiUa, ii. 43-7.
THE NAN SOUNG. 213
Exert all your influence for permission to com-
mit to prison the more clamorous and powerful
of your adversaries, as being seditious disturbers
of the empire. The jailors are your creatures.
The rice allowed to the prisoners must contain
a substance destructive to life. The leaders
thus removed, fear will render the subordinates
silent, and you may destroy them at your plea-
sure. But you must commit no half measures.
Your lantern must be sustained by a cord, and
not by a single thread. The proverb says —
' When thou wouldst construct a dwelling, thou
must employ alone the strong wood of the
Nanmou tree.'* When you would do an act of
importance, let resolution be the sentiment to
support yjou. You must boldly mount the
dragon throne, and * exterminator of the
family of the Soung' must be written upon
the blade you unsheath to approach it."
"The storm rolls on," replied Kyatsetao,
dubiously. "■ Rapidly it gathers above me, as
a vault of fire. That which you propose, re-
quires time for preparation, and I have not a
moment."
** Nor is it needed. You must rise at once
* Vide Du Halde, i. 19.
214 THE FALL OF
above your enemies, as the eagle above the
thunder clouds/^^ if you would escape their
furies."
Kyatsetao still appeared to ponder. His
brows were elevated, his nostrils dilated; his
teeth were closed upon his nether lip, and his
hand was clenched convulsively. To resolve
upon the death of one of his many opponents
had been an easy task, but his mind shrunk
from contemplating the wholesale slaughter ad-
vised him ; not on account of its enormity, but
from terror lest in attempting it he should fail,
and be exposed to the retahation of the victims
he desired to immolate to his ambition. Lee-
yunnian, perceiving he did not rejoly, con-
tinued—
" You are not so deserted as you deem. Many
are still attached to you ; but perceiving your
irresolution, and — forgive me, great minister —
the apparent prostration of your energies, have
united themselves to your opponents. An act
that proves the dragon has but slumbered will
recal these to the party to which they are at-
tached by gratitude for past favours and hopes
of emolument to come."
'' I would dare to do it, but how is mv name
THE NAN SOUNG. 215
to encounter the ordeal of history ?" half mut-
tered Kyatsetao. " Already have I been described
as one who has perilled, if not nigh lost, the
empire ; and shall I . render my name as de-
testable as that of Cheousin,^®^ last emperor of
the dynasty of Kang ?"
"And would you be the only one defamed
after death whom, living, men had either affected
to admire or to fear ? How often has Say-
raakouang,^*' the modern Confutse, been deposed
from and restored to his honours ? His fame
a plaything in the hands of sovereigns. Who,
living, was surrounded by more obsequious
courtiers than Chihoang-ty ? yet after death he
was libelled as a monster. The writers of his-
tory are guided but by fallible judgments, and,
their records are as often false as true. If you
approve my advice, you will, however, deprive
them of all power to compare your faults or
virtues with those of others. Imitate Chi-
hoang-ty."
"Such is impossible," observed Kyatsetao,
"for every city, town, and village of the empire
has its municipal records ; and though I might
disperse the imperial historians, unless I cut off
every right hand in the empire, I should find
216 THE FALL OF
thousands of men whom a morbid vanity and
the desire of procuring themselves a reputation,
would urge to act in direct contradiction to such
a decree. No, I cannot escape the ordeal of
history."
*'Then scorn its page, noble minister," re-
plied Leeyunnian, who had been occupying
herself with tracing characters upon a slip of
paper. " You have now but the choice of self-
preservation or of leaving a triumph to your
enemies, of which they will fully avail them-
selves, whilst they deride your indecision. Be-
hold, I have completed a list of the most ob-
noxious of your opponents, whose names have
reached me by report."
The eye of the minister rested for some
minutes upon the paper, and then returning it,
he said, accompanying his words with a bitter
smile —
" There are many there, but yet not all. I
have myself, in my own keeping, a more correct
list. But how comes the name of Tkanghia to
be enumerated here ? Know you, maid of the
flowers and of the willows, that this youth
returns partially successful from his mission ?
The embassy failed ; but by himself he has
THE NAN SOUNG. 217
liberated the lady Luseynah. The empress -
regent has already heard of his success, and has
dispatched to meet him a mandarin of rank.
This Luseynah enjoyed high favour with the
empress, and will join her influence with those
who seek the liberation of her father. His name,
however, is with the rest. It is of this Tkanghia
we now discourse, and I fear it would be acting
in opposition to Tyen were I to molest him, for
assuredly he has not passed through all the
perils of the north without having been pro-
tected by the S23irits."
"Returns ! — and she is with him !" Leeyun-
nian exclaimed between her closed teeth. " But
I knew he would. I have daily sacrificed to
the spirits, that he might be conducted in safety
through every peril, as one who bears upon his
person a few grains of musk treads amid the
venemous serpents of Shensee,* so that no
other hand but mine might urge his mortal
blow. Minister, this is but one life I ask for
on my own account ; besides, he is a whelp of
the same brood as howls around you. As to
his divine protection, the bow that is often bent
* Vide Note 70.
VOL. II. L
218 THE FALL OF
at last will break, and the man who walks often
on the brink of a precipice, at last will fall.
Surely you will grant me this ?"
*' Be it so. He is entered among the con-
demned. But how to ensure the destruction of
all ?"
A smile, denoting gratification, parted the
lips of Leeyunnian, who replied —
*' When the whole of your enemies are en-
closed in prison, you must be prepared to ad-
minister to them some preparation that you will
procure from the physician whose name and
address is entered here. Proceed yourself, at
the hour of evening, to his abode, for such
missions as this must be executed secretly and
by one's self. He is avaricious, and you will
have to satisfy this sentiment before procuring
anything from him."
" I will remember your counsel, Leeyunnian.
Surely, if the doctrines of the Hoshang be cor-
rect, your soul, in its former tenement, must
have animated some sage," said the minister,
who then withdrew.
THE NAN SOUNG. 219
CHAPTER XIII.
The doctor, Mintseye, whom the reader has
met before at the entertainment given by Kaohe.
had been a fortunate man in his profession that
he had inherited from his "fathers, who for many
generations had practised upon the hves and
pockets of their patients, without receiving any
very great return from an ungrateful pubhc for
their philanthropic exertions ; and the young
Mintseye entered upon his career at the age of
eighteen, possessed of no very great reputa-
tion, on account of his descent, and with an
empty pocket, and a box not much better off,
as it consisted of twelve drawers, each divided
into as many partitions, but provided in a most
beggarly way, as the whole of its stock was
l2
220 THE FALL OF
composed of a small quantity of ginsang/^ and
an equal modicum of rhubarb.
With this diminutive dispensary, the embryo
physician proceeded to roam the country round,
managing to support himself, owing to a cer-
tain impassibihty of temper that manifested no
surprise at the recovery of a patient, and a
wonderful fluency of speech in explaining how
severe are the decrees of fate, when he advised
resignation to the relatives of such as died
under his treatment.
It happened that one day he found himself in
the same village with the president of one of the
six supreme tribunals, who was suffering from
some complaint ; and, by some process he never
could explain to himself, he succeeded in effect-
ing the cure of the great man. From that
moment his skill was lauded to the skies. His
quondam patient became his efficient patron.
Practice crowded upon him, and his vagabond
life became exchanged for the settled and easy
one of a fashionable physician : though at the
first burst of his fortune, a gloomy cloud
threatened to overshadow him, for the fame of
his talents was very near procuring him the
THE NAN SOUNG. 221
situation of physician to the palace, to which
none but eunuchs are appointed.
The physician had adopted fashionable
habits, and his little fingers' nails of either
hand were permitted to grow to a disgusting
length ; but this we have elsewhere said,
the Chinese regard as a distinction, since it is
an indubitable proof that the wearer is not
concerned in any manual labour.*®^ He was
just occupied in sheathing his nails for the
night in pieces of bamboo, so as to defend them
from being broken during his sleep, when a
domestic entered to announce that some one,
borne in a close chair, desired to see him.
With a murmur at thus being disturbed, the
physician directed that his visitor should be
introduced into his private apartment, whilst his
excuses were to be presented that the state of
his toilet prevented him from immediately pro-
ceeding to welcome and honour him who had
condescended to enter his dwelling ; and then,
with as much celerity as possible, he resumed
the robes he had just cast ofi".
Mintseye entered the room where his visitor
was seated ; and though the former was unable
222 THE FALL OF
to discover the latter's features, we can inform
the reader that it was Kyatsetao. The room
was Hghted by a single lamp, artistically
constructed of small pieces of horn, and the
gloom baffled the physician's scrutiny, who, how-
ever, perceived that his patient was of rank, or
at least of education, from the mode in which
he sat.
Mintseye made one lowly bow, and was about
proceeding through a series, when Kyatsetao,
rising for an instant from his seat, with a motion
of his left arm dispensed him from their ob-
servance.
" My lord, my great master," said Mintseye,
still in ignorance as to the quality of his visitor,
" what commands have you for your servant ?
Do you suffer from any internal complaint ? If
so, put confidence in my skill and devotedness
to serve you. If you be afflicted by some
malignant spirit, my modesty forbids me pro-
claiming my ability ; but if you would ex-
amine the book I keep, containing the signa-
tures of those who have been benefited by my
skill, you would recognise in me abilities that
justly merit the title I have assumed of ' Doctor
who restores to perfect health.' "
THE NAN SOUNG. 228
"Doctor who restores to perfect health," re-
pHed Kyatsetao, " my malady is one that your
prescriptions may avail, but it is necessary that
tlie medicines be administered by my own
hands."
'* Then, my lord, it is necessary that I see the
patient, so as to discover from the various pulsa-
tions what disease afflicts him, or that the symp-
toms be detailed to me."
" The last I can easily do," said Kyatsetao,
after a short silence. " A body is so perfectly
diseased by sores, rebellious to every care, by
obstinate afflictions that yield to no ordinary
cures, that it is necessary to employ extra-
ordinary ones. You must give a remedy that
would be death to such as are in full vigour ;
but in this case, the friends of the sick deem
that such violent means may have the effect of
overawing the evil spirits, and of driving them
off in terror."
A gleam of intelligence passed across the
countenance of the physician. It was not un-
usual for him, as we shall presently see, to re-
ceive such applications, and he replied —
" My experience has rendered me acquainted
with similar cases, and my studies have enabled
224 THE FALL OF
me to be of service to many suffering in spirit,
on account of the pains their friends endured."
The emphasis with which the last words were
accompanied assured Kyatsetao he had been
understood, and he felt well pleased at being
saved the trouble of further explanation, and
he said —
" Did those whom you thus assisted present
to you ingots of gold, as I am prepared to do ?
What are the medicaments you are able to fur-
nish me, in return for such a fee as that ?"
At the mention of such a reward, the phy-
sician became nervous with joy.
'' I know," he said, " a medicament such as
you desire. Its virtue, in ordinary cases, would
destroy the most robust man before he had
emptied the glass that contained it."
'* But the sufferer for whom I consult you
has strength eq,ual to that of a hundred men,"
rejoined Kyatsetao.
" A hundred men ! " exclaimed Mintseye,
with surprise ; for though he was not unaccus-
tomed to small dabblers in the murderer's
craft, he was rather unprepared for one upon
so large a scale. " A hundred men ! Do you
not think, Tajin, of your demand ? The police
THE NAN SODNG. 226
would be roused to inquiry by such a cure. The
man, shielded by the loftiest power, could not
be preserved from their scrutiny. Really, I
have not — I dare not — vend such potent medi-
cines. In my sleep, I should be pursued by
dreams of horror. The Yen, the spirits of hell,
would all be roused to torment me."
" More were those who perished by the act of
Licouki, general of Chaotsong, emperor of the
present celestial dynasty, who poisoned the
river and herbage about Chuntkang, by which
he slew a multitude of men of the Kin army.*
Why fear you that the Yen should notice your
act more than his ? Do you really credit that
for such things as this we are exposed to the
wrath and punishment of the spirits ?"
'* I am, my master, but an uneducated man.
I know not the sophistry of the literati. I can-
not reply to you with argument ; but this I can
assert, that I have seen many pursued by the
spirits for dark deeds. Besides, is not the book
of Laotsy full of such narratives ? Many are
the tales I could relate ; but I would not try
your patience."
The superstitious fears of Kyatsetao were
* De Mailla, viiL 533.
l3
226 THE FALL OF
roused, and he was silent. His mind brooded
for some moments over his fear of superhuman
retribution, his ambitious wishes to retain
his power and vindictive desires against his
enemies. The last emotions triumphed, and
he said —
"Do you weigh these superstitious tales of
the Hoshang against the heavy ingots with
which I would reward your zealous services ?
lean found monasteries, and consecrate chapels,
and thus purchase peace with the spirits."*
'*'But," suggested Mintseye, whose objections,
after all, were as much the effects of his avarice
as his moral scruples, for he desired to enhance
the value of his consent — '' but could you assure
us from the interference of the ministers of
the law ?"
'' Thou little man ! " exclaimed Kyatsetao,
with angry accents — '' thou httle man ! dost
deem the earth is sunken from beneath my feet,
or that the great seal of the empire be no longer
in my hands ?"
These words, and a more favourable glance
at his visitor's figure, served to discover to the
* Vide Grosier, iv. 465.
THE NAN SOUNG. 227
physician whom he was, and prostrating him-
self with his face on the earth, he cried —
" Pardon, high minister of heaven ! Your
slave knew not that the Funghoang, the phoenix,
had deigned to nestle beneath his roof."
Kyatsetao w^as somewhat annoyed at being
recognised ; but restraining himself, he said,
in his most urbane tones —
" Fear not, Mintseye ; the chief minister is
not angered. Your ignorance has but amused
him. Arise from the earth, and listen."
Mintseye obeyed ; and as he rose, replied —
" When my lord commands, each limb, each
sense, becomes an ear. The very joints of my
fingers are strained with attention."
" Let them also itch with obedience," rejoined
the minister. '' Know, Mintseye, that the celestial
fruit is ripened. The wasps gather around it
from without ; the worm has penetrated within.
The latter must be destroyed by subtle measures.
Dost thy soul comprehend me ?"
" Brilliant is the light that has burst upon
me ! I appear to comprehend things of another
planet, to have listened to conceptions that
betoken superhuman judgment," ejaculated
Mintseye, in tones of admiration.
228 THE FALL OF
*' The empire is like to a dwelling that is
shook from without by a storm, and whose
interior is a prey to the flames."
" Perfection of expression !" cried Mintseye,
seemingly in a perfect enthusiasm of admiration.
" The empire is like to the town Che-men-
hien, of which tradition relates, that as often
as its ancient inhabitants sought to con-
struct its walls, these fell, until at last, by the
advice of an astrologer, the builders inserted
in the foundations, at certain distances apart,
small lumps of gold. From that time they
have ever stood firmly and securely.* Does
not history record, that dynasty after dynasty
has perished, leaving the people to weep the
continual interruption of social government,
and their exposure, owing to the confusion thus
perpetually occasioned, to the evil designs of
their immoral fellows and the incursions of
barbarous foes ? Sages continually but vainly
urged monarchs, who wished to secure the
interests of their people, to select competent
ministers and wise advisers. It was left to
Litsong, the nineteenth emperor of the present
* De Guignes, ii. 62,63.
THE NAN SOUNG. 229
illustrious dynasty, to act upon this advice, and
he selected the minister, whose perfect abilities
my tongue is too weak to describe. Thus,
around the empire another wall was raised,
whose foundations, as though by magic, were
assured by the comj^etency of that resplendent
minister. Let, then, judgment overtake all who
would conceive the infamous idea of robbing
from the foundations of Che-men-hien the
golden balls that insure the security of its
walls."
This was a long, and though a fulsome com-
pliment, yet Kyatsetao was far from being dis-
pleased with it. Had it been uttered in praise
of another, he might have felt otherwise. As it
was, he replied — " Mintseye, thy abilities have
been but ill acknowledged. Had you studied
letters, you would have risen to some high grade
in the tribunal of history."
*' Your excellency flatters me : I dare not
listen to such things," said Mintseye, mo-
destly.
After a short pause, Kyatsetao continued —
'* Mintseye, you have comprehended me. As a
woman was able to assist Kao-hoangty,'^ so
may you, Kyatsetao. My enemies have sur-
230 THE FALL OF
rounded me, so that I can no longer parry, but
must succumb or deal some notable blow. From
you I expect some potent venom : say, are
you prepared to furnish it to me ?"
" The preparation is costly ; besides, your
slave has apprehensions" —
" Obey !" said Kyatsetao, interrupting him,
and who, ever accustomed to behold his com-
mands executed soon as uttered, could ill brook
now becoming a suppliant. " Obey ! I well
comprehend, base man, it is your avarice that
suggests your objections. You shall receive
two thousand taels of silver ; and, as to fear, be
secure so long as you be secret. My power
shall protect you."
" Your excellency shall be served. But
would the chief minister of the empire assist his
slave in a marriage he desires to form with the
sister-in-law of a wealthy jeweller of the principal
square ?"
" Mintseye, be diligent and faithful, and be
assured of the favour of my countenance. To
render honour to the ceremony, I will create
you and the nearest relative of the lady
honorary mandarins."
THE NAN SOUNG. 281
" The liberality of my lord can hardly be
equalled by the gratitude of his slave. Would
the chief minister, a proficient in letters, con-
descend to enter the laboratory of a man of art ?
Will he deign to select himself the ingredients
that he seeks ?"
Kyatsetao assented, and, accompanied by
Mintseye, was introduced by the latter, with
many bows, into the retreat where he occasion-
ally compounded preparations similar to those
sought from him at present. In the centre of
the room was a square stand, intended to repre-
sent a book-case, but it was alone so in appear-
ance, and on a few of the volumes it contained
being removed, a number of drawers were re-
vealed. These, Mintseye proceeded to open ;
as he did so, describing their contents.
" This," he said, spreading upon his hand
some dried leaves resembling tea — " this pos-
sesses a wonderfully narcotic power. It is fre-
quently purchased by the keepers of hotels for the
purpose of lulling their guests into sleep, who
are then stripped, and carried away to a distance.
Thus, your excellency sees that all masters of
hotels are not similar in honesty to him of
232 THE FALL OF
Hoai-gin;^^' but their diflferent line of conduct
is the better for their coffers. Will this suit,
my lord ?"
" Pass on to the next," replied Kyatsetao, im-
patiently. '* Think you that I am a pupil de-
sirous of being instructed in the infamies of
your art, and that I have come hither expressly
to listen to harangues upon the virtuous con-
duct of men whose heads are stuffed with flax,
that is set in a blaze with the first spark of
enthusiasm that approaches them, whether it be
produced from evil or from good ? Proceed."
" I knew not, my lord, that I offended, " said
Mintseye, making a profound obeisance, in
token of repentance, and perhaps to hide a
gratified smile that lit his countenance at having
adroitly touched the vanity of his visitor ; for the
physician, when he dared to manifest it, had no
small share of malice in his composition.
" Forgive me, for I could not abide that the
light of the heavens were obscured to me, that
your countenance should be clouded with in-
dignation. " This," he continued, perceiving
that his loquacity was irritating his visitor —
" this is a powder that contains the essence of
THE NAN SOUNG. 233
the virtue that resides in the best rhubarb root
of Tanguth. Friends administer it reciprocally
when they have sustained private cause of
wrong ; also children to their parents, when
these last retain their treasures too long for
filial impatience ; and husbands to their wives,
when not possessing one of the seven legitimate
causes of divorce,^^^ and they desire to contract
some preferable alliance. But it must be ad-
ministered in small doses. It requires time to
occasion the appearance of a natural death.
The patient expires from the debility it occa-
sions, worn to a skeleton, and resembles one
that perishes from consumption."
'* Somewhat else," said Kyatsetao — " some-
what with more speedy powers,"
'' It will be this. No," Mintseye continued,
as he took in his hands a small parcel of pas-
tiles — " no, I have mistaken. These, great
minister, are what the robbers burn, when, on
their nocturnal expeditions, they enter a house,
cutting a passage through the wooden walls, or
board a vessel on the canals or rivers. They
have the precaution to carry an antidote for
their own protection ; but master and domestics,
234 THE FALL OF
captain and crew, are lulled by its vapour into
a death-like sleep,* so that the very doors of
the house, and even the planks of the vessel,
may be carried off, and the owners discover
nothing till they have slept off its narcotic
effects. Not unfrequently, it is used to procure
the seals of one from beneath the pillow on
which he rests his head."
" Do you intend initiating me into the secret
by which every crime is or can be committed ?"
inquired Kyatsetao, angrily interrupting the
physician in his discourse. '' The hours have
passed on. Curfew has long since sounded. f
The barriers of the streets will be closed, and,
though prime minister of the empire, I shall
have to account, to-morrow, to the Chihien,
magistrate of the district, for the reasons that
have led me to be abroad at such an hour as
this."
'' Minister of heaven, I have found what I
sought. In this small vase is a liquid cunningly
distilled, sufficient to destroy one thousand men.
Be careful, until it has to be used, to exclude it
from the light, lest its properties be injured.
* Vide Du Halde, i. 67. f Vide Note 193.
THE NAN SOUNG. 235
One drop is sufficient for the purpose. It is
composed from the recipe of Ouchi/^^ and so
potent is it, that no specific can be found to
counteract its effects. It is equally deadly even
were it to be drunk out of a vase sculptured out
of the stone Hung-hoang,* that your excellency
knows is a sovereign antidote for all other
species of venom. With this, Ouchi destroyed
the hereditary prince "
" Cease, presumptuous man ! Think you
that I be ignorant of the tales of history ?" said
Kyatsetao, interrupting the doctor, as he con-
cealed the vase in his sleeve. Conduct me
forth. My chair-bearers await me. And do
you imagine that your noisy prattle is to be pre-
ferred to the convenience of my servants, who
are anxious to return to my palace ?''
" Most illustrious minister," said the phy-
sician, prostrating himself, " may your slave
hope that the promises of two thousand taels,
and the honorary mandarinates for myself and
the nearest relative of my bride, will be con-
firmed by your august breath ?"
Kyatsetao pressed the vase with his arm
against his bosom, and looking viciously at the
* Vide Note 64.
236 THE FALL OF
suppliant, perhaps he wished he could force a
few drops of its contents down its donor's throat.
Masking these sentiments under kindly tones,
he replied —
'* The plough has crossed the field, and left a
furrow. I ever reward those who serve me by
multiplying tenfold that which I promise. Rise,
and conduct me forth."
Mintseye obeyed, and, with a lantern of silk
gauze, he conducted the minister into the inner-
most court of his house, where the chair of his
visitor awaited him, and here he again pros-
trated himself, until the last echoes of the
bearers' feet had passed av, i-y.
THE NAN SOUNG. "237
CHAPTER XIV.
Never had there dawned for the jeweller,
Kaopingte, a day of such propitious fortune as
that on which he found himself created an
honorary mandarin, after he had promised his
sister-in-law in man*iage to the physician,
Mintseye, and further, to permit her to carry
with her fifty of the hundred pounds of silver that
had excited so many scandalous animadversions
on the part of his enemies.
The dignity that had been conferred upon
Kaopingte consisted simply but of a title.
There was neither command nor emolument to
be procured by it, yet it had the great privilege
attached to it, of securing him from the capricious
infliction of the punishment of the bastinade
238 THE FALL OF
by any mandarin — a privilege so highly con-
sidered, that, at times, rich merchants and others
purchase it for a round sum.
Altogether, his satisfaction was complete.
He had secured himself fifty pounds of silver ;
had silenced the tongues of scandal; and,
furthermore, was in a position that enabled
him to dare his cousin's ire, which he knew
would be excessive at the prospect of losing
the dowry he had hoped to possess himself of;
for, though his sister-in-law had been promised
to Kaohe, there were neither witnesses nor
document to prove the contract, and then he
was protected by the prime minister, Kyatsetao.
To fill up the jeweller's cup of contentment
to overflowing, he only desired a visit from his
cousin, and he partly expected him, to demand
the exchange of the nuptial tickets. At last,
as though some spirit had kindly undertaken
to execute his will, he perceived the inspector
of the market advancing towards his dwelling ;
for to that rank Kaohe had returned, not being
found particularly suited for employment re-
quiring the exercise of literary abilities.
Kaohe entered, and scarcely noticing his
relative, passed through the shop and entered
THE NAN SOUNG. 239
the jeweller's private room, as was usual with
him, and taking one of the pipes that were
lying on a rack, proceeded to smoke. Kaopingte
followed him, promising himself an agreeable
scene as soon as his cousin should observe the
difference between their present and former
relative positions.
" Cousin," observed Kaohe, " thou art a for-
tunate man. No one in the city but envies
you. You are about to have your sister-in-law
united with one whose transcendant abilities
are the admiration of whoever has a soul to
comprehend them."
" Worthy inspector, Tyen deals alike pro-
pitious and evil destines. Man acts ill if he be
too elated with the one, or too dejected by
the other. The master sage, Confutse, has
taught that real virtue exists in the centre of
extremes."
Kaohe grinned, for he imagined his cousin
was thus sententious, because annoyed at the
prospect of losing the hundred pounds of silver
he had begun, from possession, to regard as his
ovm, and he replied, with the laudable design
of further disturbing his spleen — " Cousin, you
do not appear as grateful as you ought to be to
240 THE FALL OF
the presiding goddess of matrimony, that so
near a relative to you as I am, be about to tie
the nuptial knot. Is the lady's patsze * pre-
pared ? Behold, cousin, mine is ready to be
exchanged." And Kaohe drew forth and un-
folded a piece of scarlet silk, upon which were
emblazoned eight golden characters, disposed
in four lines.
" It is admirably executed," said the jeweller,
speaking with as much indifference as his sup-
pressed joy would permit him. " But I under-
stand not the astrological writing. Who is the
bride whose family you honour } "
Not comprehending the last sentence nor the
tone in which it was delivered, Kaohe gazed in
his cousin's face. As he did so, his eye beheld
the change in his relative's habiliments, which
were those of an inferior mandarin. Kaohe's
mouth opened, his eye expanded, and for some
minutes, he continued sitting the very portrait
of surprise.
" It must have cost you much, cousin,"
Kaopingte continued, feigning to be uncon-
scious of the emotions he had excited in his
cousin's breast, though, in secret, he was
gloating over them. " These marriages are
* Nuptial ticket.
THE NAN SOUNG. 241
very expensive, and that poet was right who
sung — ' There needs but a marriage to ruin
the most opulent families.' If you conckide
yours as you have commenced, you must be
assured of an appointment as viceroy of
Yunnan. The gold in the rivers' beds of that
province may support such prodigality."
" Can it be," said Kaohe — " can it be that
you have received the signet, that you wear the
girdle of command } You surely cannot have
been drunk enough to have adopted this as a
disguise, so as to impose upon some ignorant
person, and assuming an authority not yours,
terrify him into accordance with some purpose
of your own ?"
" Cousin, my appointment was traced by the
vermilion brush, the pen of the emperor.
Think you that I be one to lend myself to
infamy ? Dishonour not the family name you
l)ear by imagining one of the same patronymic
could be vicious or immoral."
Not yet recovered from his astonishment,
Kaohe replied — "How came you thus to be
enabled to raise your hands for the support of
heaven? You, surely, must have dispensed
large sums of the bright glittering metal."
VOL. II. M
242 THE FALL OF
" The physician to the most sublime prime
minister desired to tie the silken knot with the
Lady Maohey, my sister-in-law," rejoined
Kaopingte. "His master, appreciating the
devotion with which he had served him, to do
greater honour to the ceremony, constituted the
worthy doctor Mintseye and myself honorary
mandarins, so as to raise us above the capri-
cious abuse of his authority by any mandarin.
What presents the bridegroom makes to his
intended are given to me, and I, hoping that
the spirits may reward my liberality, give to the
lady fifty pounds of silver."
" False cheat !" cried Kaohe, rising ; " but the
lady was engaged to me. I will demand from
the Chihien that such illegal espousals be
forbidden."
Kaopingte smiled one of those provoking
smiles of deferential defiance as he calmly re-
plied— "Most honoured relative, I am certain
that you vrill not be guilty of any such folly.
A marriage cannot legally be contracted without
witnesses, or the interchange of presents, which
surely have not passed between you and my
sister-in-law, a lady of perfect prudence."
" You forget the bracelet that you presented
THE NAN SOUNG. 243
her from me. I have the letter of acknowledg-
ment in her own hands."
" Cousin, the bracelet lies in yonder drawer,
of which I possess the key, and certain am I
you have no acknowledgment in her own hand-
writing. Whoever has pretended to conduct
this affair for you has imposed upon you. If
you be foolish enough to press this case before
the magistrate, you may yourself be charged
with forgery."
" I be charged with forgery ! " exclaimed
Kaohe. " I received this writing from yourself."
" You would find it impossible to substantiate
such an assertion ; you have no witnesses,"
rejoined the jeweller. " And count not upon
your influence with the Chihien ; he cannot
oppress me with the exercise of arbitrary
power. My gifts will enlighten his view of the
case. Your own base conduct will be reported,
and I am sure to triumph in the superior
tribunals, where the minister's favour will pro-
tect me ; for it is his own design that this
marriage be consummated. Silence is prudence,
cousin, for the wild animal taken in the toils ;
if he lie still, may be the hunters will overlook
him."
M 2
244 THE FALL OF
Kaohe now recognised that he had been
overreached, and without the ceremony of
saying adieu, with the exception of a short
monologue that seemed to be the invocation of
anything but blessings on the head of prime
ministers and cousins, he quitted the presence
of his relative, who immediately dispatched a
servant to summon the priests who were to
officiate in his intended re-installation of his
god, Ticam.
The inspector of the market repaired to his
jurisdiction, casting his eyes well around him
for the discovery of some delinquent upon
whom he might vent the passion that burned so
fiercely in his bosom. Whilst thus occupied,
it was his fate to encounter the eunuch,
Tkinkoan, with whom, as purveyor for the
palace, he had formed an acquaintance, oc-
casionally assisting the eunuch in the execu-
tion of his duties, by informing him where the
objects he sought were to be found ; for we
have elsewhere said, that the market proprietors
were not over anxious for the custom of the
imperial purveyor. The eunuch, knowing
Kaohe to be a creature of his bitter enemy,
Kyatsetao, had endeavoured to cultivate the
THE NAN SOUNG. 245
acquaintance into intimacy, in hopes of obtain-
ing occasional information of the minister's
projects, and now returned Kaohe's profound
salaam with a respectful salutation.
"Your countenance," said the eunuch,
" seems as disturbed as the dragon's lake of the
mountain Tienlu, ^^^ when some unhallowed
hand has cast a stone into its usually quiet
waters, and thus awakes the slumbering spirits
of the elements. I am sui'prised to behold you
thus, for, under the wise government of the
sublime minister, Kyatsetao, every countenance
should express but joy."
" The waters of the river Luen, where they
join the imperial canal, run part to the north
and part to the south ; so that if twelve straws be
cast in at this spot, one half proceeds in an
opposite direction to the other.* Thus is it
with the empire, to which each of its subjects
is a source of prosperity ; but their opinions
may be as different upon points admitting of
discussion as the course of the Luen. The
minister, Kyatsetao, is false and incompetent ;
others, however, judge differently."
" Know you not that such words are sedi-
■i * Vide Staon. ii. 387.
246 THE FALL OF
tious ? " said the eunuch, dropping his voice,
and looking suspiciously around. "Be silent,
or you may draw the ten thousand ears, eyes,
and hands of the police upon you. The prime
minister is vindictive when insulted."
" I fear him not, for he dare not offend me.
Tkinkoan, had I the power of presenting a
placard, T could tumble him from his seat. He
has injured me, and I bear not patiently."
" What words are these ?" inquired the
eunuch, looking doubtfully upon Kaohe.
" Were we in private, you should be the re-
pository of my bosom's secrets. The fair words
you use concerning the minister, I know to be
false. You are his enemy, as fire is to water.
Listen to me in private, and you shall have
certain means to destroy him."
The eunuch paused some minutes before he
replied. He seemed to be weighing the possibility
of a snare being laid to entrap him. Kaohe, per-
ceiving his sincerity to be doubted, continued —
" Credit me, for the prime minister has de-
prived me of one I had intended to wed. I
can relate the whole of his treasonable con-
nexion with the Pelienkia. Enough, alone, for
THE NAN SOUNG. 247
his condemnation, without his correspondence
with the foreign rebels, the Moguls.
The earnestness with which Kaohe spoke
assured the eunuch of his sincerity, and he
made an appointment for that evening, and
they separated with mutual salutes : Tkinkoan
pondering on the promised revelations, and
Kaohe revelling at the prospect of avenging
himself.
248 THE FALL OF
CHAPTER XV.
Kaopingte, as soon as he had dispatched a
servant in quest of the priests, entered the
apartments of his women, where he found his
sister in law still habited in her weeds and
amusing herself with one of the large white cats
of the province of Petchely, with long and
pendent ears, that are such favourites with Chi-
nese ladies.* His own wife was habited in a
gala dress, and to her shoulder was conspi-
cuously attached a handsome purse of purple
leather, embroidered with golden characters.
Fair reader, be not shocked, when you are in-
formed that the sentences so richly and elabo-
rately worked, are in praise of the " pernicious
* Vide Thev. Mar. Martinii.
THE NAN SOUNG. 249
weed," and the reed, that betrays itself from out
of the one pocket, is the stem of a pipe, whilst the
other owes its rotund appearance to being filled
with the best tobacco of Shantong ; her addic-
tion to which was betrayed by her black teeth,
whenever she parted her painted lips for the
purpose of speaking ; but, perhaps, she was to
be pardoned her partiality to the selfish and
pleasing vice of smoking, for it is one in which
Chinese women indulge from their earliest girl-
hood, and it is not uncommon to see a young
miss, not ten years of age, pufling from her
bamboo pipe.
" Wife," said the jeweller, our worthy god
will presently be restored to all his honours.
The priests will speedily arrive to reinstate him.
Fortune has verily been propitious towards me
this day, for I have just bearded the tiger."
" May the eternal mother^^^ ever render your
fortune in like manner felicitous !" replied his
lady. " Sister, we had better retire behind the
silken screens, so as to assist at the ceremony
without being seen by man, for many of these
priests ill observe the precepts of Laotsy, never
to regard a woman, or the admirable maxim, ' If
M 3
250 THE FALL OF
a woman be coming from the east, look towards
the west; "*
" I am prepared," said the widow, rising and
dismissing her feline pet — " I am prepared, not,
however, that I entirely concur in your invec-
tives against the Hoshang."
" You do well to take their part, sister-in-law,
observed the jeweller, "for you will presently
require their services to calculate your nuptial
card. All the preliminaries are arranged for
the celebration of the ' excellent ceremony.' "
"Such haste is iudecent. Surely, it will
offend Changko, the vu'tuous goddess of celi-
bacy ,"t rejoined the widow, trying to look dis-
contented. " The lord of my person, my hus-
band, has quitted liis seat but two years and
eight moons, yet you urge me to re-marry. You
are my relatives, and besides the duties im-
posed by consanguinity, I am obliged to you
by those of gratitude. I therefore have obeyed
you both, though, the great spirit of heaven be
my witness, T would rather die unconsoled by
second espousals, so that after death my name
might be recorded among those of illustrious
* Vide Rec. et Peines, 328.
f Vide Diz. d'ogni Mitologia.
THE NAN SODNG. 251
women, and that in the public square a tri-
umphal arch might be erected to me, as to
other widows, who after the death of their hus-
bands have preferred their chastity and such
honour to the pleasui-e of second nuptials."
" Sister-in-law," said the jeweller, " I thought
with you that evil-disposed persons might be
inclined to speak ill of your motives for tying
the second time the silken knot, and compre-
hending, before you spoke, that these were also
your sentiments, I have contrived to withdraw
the word I had promised to my relative, Kaohe,
inspector of the market, but I consider marriage
is proper for you, not having had children by
the respected and departed Maoying, master
jeweller, I have therefore accepted the proposal
of the honourable Mints eye, a noble and fortu-
nate professor of the art of healing."
"The doctor Mintseye, I know him not. It
is highly indecorous to disregard faith that be
once pledged," hurriedly cried the widow, who
had seen Kaohe at the festival of the merchant,
from behind the silken screens that concealed
the ladies from the view of the guests, and,
to confess the truth, his lusty form, broad
forehead, and thick beard had considerably
252 THE FALL OF
lessened her grief for the loss of her worthy
spouse, and had more effect than Kaopiugte's
arguments to induce her to consent to a second
marriage.
" The doctor Mintseye !" exclaimed the mer-
chant's domestic partner, who immediately
felt wrathful when she heard that an event of
so much importance as a change in the dispo-
sal of one of the members of her own family
had been effected, and she not to have been
consulted; for though the Chinese endeavour
to reduce their wives to the position of mere
automata, so much so that the peasants will
not even permit them to sit in their presence,
yet somehow they manage, as in more feminine
ruled portions of the globe, to obtain the as-
cendancy over their "lords." One great re-
source a Chinese lady has in subjugating a bear
of a husband, is a quiet intimation of a design to
commit suicide, which threat, if executed, would
entail disaster upon him: his harsh conduct
being regarded as the cause, and himself, in the
eye of the law, as morally guilty of his wife's
murder. Mistress Kaopingte was one of those
happy ladies, who, by a judicious minglement
of chiding, menacing, and affection, had re-
THE NAN SOUNG. 253
duced her respectable husband to discipline, so
that he frequently deigned to consult her upon
affairs of importance, as he found her to have
both discretion and intelligence ; which two
qualities, joined to the experience a widow
always possesses, had procured her the ascen-
dancy. " The doctor Mintseye ! How now ?
"WTiat news is this ? Has a messenger arrived
from another planet, and communicated to you
secret intelligence of which he forbade you to
make me the participator ? Who has said my
sister is to wed the doctor Mintseye !"
" The doctor Mintseye is the first physician
of the city. He has the care of many of the
highest mandarins. To him I am indebted for
my elevation to the rank of a noble," replied
Kaopingte, gazing timidly on his wife's Hushed
cheeks, dyed with passion of a more crimson
shade than ever they were by the paint that lay
upon them. Poor man ! he had taken up his
position for a matrimonial dispute, though, fi'om
experience, he might have been assured of de-
feat.
" And are promises to be held for nothing .?
and is one's pledged word to be held for less,
like a thread of silk that may be snapped and
254 THE FALL OF
rejoined at pleasure ? Am I nothing? am I a
cow in your house ? What do you design by thus
playing with my sister's name ? Is she a concu-
bine, to promise her favours in turn to every
man ?" exclaimed, the lady with vehemence.
" What means this violence, woman ? Is my
patience to be tried beyond endurance ? You
are but as a slave in my house, I will have you
beaten."
" Beaten !" cried the jeweller's lady, interrupt-
ing her spouse. " I am your first, your legiti-
mate wife. I know the law. You dare not strike
me, or for every blow the tribunal shall award
you ten. Thou wilt not espouse this Min-
tseye — wilt thou, sister ? He is the little meagre
man who sat below the excellent Kaohe, at
the festival."
" Never !" replied the widow, resolutely and
energetically — " never ! whilst the heavens re-
tain their position, and the earth remains un-
changed."
" Sister, you are right in giving the prefe-
rence to a broad forehead, carnation cheeks,
and a stout form, when "
" How is this, deceitful woman ? You de-
scribe my cousin as intimately as though you
THE NAN SOUNG. 255
were his spouse — you who pretend to consider
it as a sin for a man to look upon a woman !"
" Dost think I was behind the screens for
any other purpose ? I then beheld that I had
the meanest looking husband of any in Han-
cheyufu.'
" For this insolence I will leave you, and
taking my property with me, perforce you must
enter the hospital for the destitute.^^®
" You dare not, Fo would chastise you.
Your little heart shrinks from incurring his in-
dignation."
" What, woman ! dost think the divine Fo
would chastise a mortal for imitating his own
conduct } At the age of nineteen, and after
two years of matrimony, did he not desert his
three wives, and retire to meditate in the soli-
tudes of a desert .'' If flying from matrimonial
penance were a sin, he is thrice as criminal as I."
" If your heart fear not the divine laws, I will
restrain you by the human. Fly, if you please,
but I will have you piu*sucd by the officers of
justice, who shall compel you to restore me
my portion. Then, if you return not in three
years, the law permits me to tie again the nup-
^56 THE FALL OF
tial knot.* Indulge in no vain hoj)es, I shall
not cut my nose off.'"^'
" Fear not," said the jeweller, " you will not
find it requisite. I will apply for a divorce to
the authorities. When you were brought to
me in the marriage chair, I was deceived as to
your age ; for I beheld not the baldness of your
head beneath the paoteouf you wore."
" I bald ! I wear the paoteou !" almost
screamed the offended lady. " But I will have
my vengeance. If Kouangin,:j: contrary to my
prayers, should make me mother, I will drown
the child as soon as born, and you will be a
man without descendants, an assassin of your
ancestors ; but if she were to make me mother of
five daughters, which the proverb says are the
ruin of a family, I would preserve them, to see
you so beggared by the expense of their main-
tenance, that the robbers even would despise
the poverty of your house. "§
" I wish not to dispute," said the jeweller, en-
deavouring to back out. " The lady Maohey
must give me her nuptial ticket."
* Du Halde, ii. 122.
t Vide Note 85. t- Vide Note 74.
§ Chinese proverb, vide De Mailla, iii. 458.
THE NAN SOUNG. 257
" I would prefer strangling myself !" replied
the widow.
" Quit the apartment, senseless animal !" cried
Kaopingte's lady. " Thou shalt find me in the
well. When the chihien inquires concerning
my death, your heart will not leap into your
mouth with joy at the severity of his perquisi-
tions."
These were ugly threats, and which Kao-
pingte knew that the two women, in common
with other Chinese females, were capable of
executing, and he said — " Wherefore should
words be high between us } The adage of the
sage says, ' Concord brings happiness, discord,
crime.' "
Kaopingte's lady noted the symptoms of sur-
render, and replied — " My sister shall tie the
silken knot but when she pleases. Who are
you, to pretend to control her ? Quit the apart-
ment that your violent language has disordered,
or I shall have recourse to the line of conduct
pursued by the empress Kouo-chi,* who made
no scruple of beating even the emperor."
Kaopingte was saved the appearance of di-
rectly obeying this imperious mandate for his
• Vide De Mailla, viil 195-6.
258 THE FALL OF
departure, by the entrance of a servant, who
announced that the priests were arrived and
ready to proceed to the ceremony of re-installing
his ill-treated divinity ; so turning on his heel,
he quitted his women's apartments, muttering
as he went, a verse of the chiking : " ' Our afflic-
tions are not from Tyen, but occasioned by
woman,'* who never should occupy herself
otherwise than with her needle and her spindle.
Truly, I regret the high hat^^® of bachelorhood.''
A procession, consisting of musicians and
priests of Fo, was already marshalled, and, on
the jeweller's appearance, proceeded, playing a
low, slow tune, intended to intimate contrition,
to the court where the degraded deity lay. The
musicians stationed themselves around, and
Kaopingte, at the head of the priests, advancing
towards his divinity, that still lay upon the
earth, prostrated himself, saying :
" Mighty and gracious Ticam, master of all
hidden treasures, deity presiding over the dis-
tribution of wealth, forgive my inconsiderate
passion. Owing to thy generosity, I am now
become noble, and have avenged myself by
pulling the tiger's beard; yet, Ticam, thou
* Vide I>u Halde, ii. 313.
THE NAN SOUNG. 259
wast guilty of folly in not protecting me from
disaster. At present, thou hast repented of thy
supineness, and I grieve for my hasty passion. I
am ready to tear my heart out when I remember
the fearful blows I dealt thee. But thy wounds
shall be cared for. Fresh gold shall cover the
places the bamboo left bare, and, Ticam, after
such neglect and injury, I restore thee to thy
altar. Be grateful to me ! Watch over my in-
terests, and remember that my wrath is speedily
kindled, if another time thou slumberest when
my prosperity be menaced by the malevolent
spirits."
Kaopingte rose, and then with much cere-
mony the fat god was restored to his sitting
posture. Fresh gold leaf was applied wherever
he had sustained injury, and he was carefully
washed with the water procured from the well
of a neighbouring temple ; his four attendants
experiencing equal attention. He was then
placed in a palanquin, and, preceded by the
musicians, entered his little chapel in triumph,
where he was re-installed with all due cere-
mony. A quantity of incense was consumed
that day in his honour, whilst the noise of the
musicians playing what was intended to be con-
260 THE FALL OF
sidered a conquering air, was sufficient to have
stunned any other but a god ; and the hymns
of the priests were so extremely fulsome, that
it required a brazen deity to listen to them
without a blush.
THE NAN SOUNG. 261
CHAPTER XVI.
The interview of Kaohe and the eunuch
Tkinkoan had taken place, and the evidence
that the last thus procured against the prime
minister was immediately communicated to the
other leaders of the cabal opposed to Kyat-
setao, whose projected coup d'etat was already
rumoured about, and determined the different
members of the faction to act with vigour.
With this object, nearly the whole of the
mandarins in the city, the members of the
various supreme tribunals, and of the imperial
council, with the other ministers, resolved to
proceed in person to the palace, not doubting
but that the evidence they possessed of treason,
and the unity of their movement, would be
sufficient to displace the favourite.
262 THE FALL OF
The palace of Hancheyufu was a magnificent
building, as far as the extent it occupied and
the richness of the materials that composed it
were concerned. It was a league in circuit,
and divided into three equal parts. The two
outer merit not that we should pause to con-
sider them. The third was entered by a lofty
portal of three doors, on each side of which
was a magnificent colonnade, raised upon a
flat terrace, the pillars being beautifully orna-
mented with azure and gold. A broad and
spacious court separated these fi'om the palace,
which was likewise erected upon a platform,
and surrounded by pillars more gorgeous than
the first, each being valued at about £200.'^
The roof projected and turned upwards. The
tiles were of bamboo, split and gilded, so that
when the sun shone upon them they seemed
of massy gold. Passing under this colonnade,
entrance was procured to a high and vast sa-
loon, on the walls of which were many excel-
lently executed paintings, representing passages
of the lives of former Chinese emperors.
In this saloon since daylight had first broken,
several hundreds of mandarins were assembled,
awaiting almost in perfect silence the result
THE NAN SODNG. 263
of a placard they had caused to be delivered
to the empress-regent, signed by all, and accus-
ing the prime minister, in no gentle terms,
of treason.
The assembly stood holding before their
faces long and narrow tablets of stone, and
with their heads bent forwards, each in the
order his rank assigned him, as decided in the
court gazette. ^°''
As the empress-regent, leading her son, a
child of four years, by the right hand, appeared
before them, each one present fell upon his
face, and for nine times thus adored the august
presence. When the assembly had risen, the
chief of the censors, quitting his post, advanced
towards his sovereign, and kneeling, said, whilst
he carefully held his stone tablet before his
mouth, so that his breath might not offend the
august nostrils :
" Sovereign of the universe, and thou, lady,
regent of the empire that is bounded but by
the four oceans, forgive the zeal of your ser-
vants in whose ears rung the advice, that the
excellent minister Lieouy gave his children on
his death-bed ; to serve one's prince with zeal,
it is necessary to be possessed entirely with
264 THE FALL OF
the desire of reproving him. If a private indi-
vidual with difficulty discovers his own defects,
how can a prince who is usually surrounded
by a crowd of flatterers, who dissimulate to
him his errors, how can he discover his ? It is,
then, the most important duty of a minister to
inform his sovereign of the defects in the lat-
ter's character or administration. Upon this
maxim the majority of those assembled here
have acted ; for ourselves, members of the cen-
sorate, we have been guided by the duties of
our office to join in the denunciation of a trai-
torous and incompetent minister. Inspired
unanimously by the desire of benefiting the
empire, the members alike of the Naiyuen, and
of all the six supreme as well as the subaltern
tribunals, have united to require the deposition
of the prime minister. Regent of the empire, place
not credit in his words, if he promise to amend ;
for sooner shall the barren crags of Setchuen
become verdant as the plains of Kiangsy, than
he shall change his nature. Believe him not,
if he deny, for it would be as the wolf, whose
jaw is blooded, belly is distended, and jaws
white with the fleece of wool, pleading to the
THE NAN SOUNG. 265
shepherds who have overtaken him, ignorance
as to the slaughter of their flocks."
" There is nothing so pleasing to a prince as
the zeal of his ministers, but he must be care-
ful as to crediting all the aspersions of ca-
lumny. Who is willing to become guarantee
for the truth of the accusations in our hands ?"
replied the empress regent, desirous of preserv-
ing her minister, and hoping by this means to
release him from the charges preferred against
him ; but her project was disconcerted by each
one present proclaiming his willingness to be-
come the required guarantee. " It is strange,"
she continued, " that one who has served three
sovereigns, should become in one morning so
e^-il."*
" Many know the retreat of the tiger, but are
fearful of indicating it, lest they incur the
peril of chasing him," replied the censor.
" If one be guilty of treason, many appear
to have been guilty of base cowardice and neg-
lect of their duties," observed the regent, bit-
terly. " Let each return to his official occu-
pations ; we will, with our council, examine
these charges."
♦ Vide De Mailla, ix. 353.
VOL. II. N
266 THE FALL OF
A murmur of disapprobation passed round
the assembly, and the censor, thus encouraged,
replied: "It is folly whilst the fire rages to
inquire as to the incendiary. The prime mi-
nister must be deposed, and tried before the
high criminal court, or the e^dls of his misrule
will be increased, if, after the representations
of all the grandees in the empire, he be per-
mitted to retain the power he abuses. If this
be your resolve, each one present resigns his
authority, for no one desires to bear a portion
of the hea^y disasters that such an unfortunate
resolution would give rise to. Surely, if this
general remonstrance be disregarded, the anger
of Tyen will break over the dragon palace.
Caoyao, as the Chuking relates, said to Yao :
* It is by the voice of the people Tyen judges
of kings. Its power is ever to be feared by
the last, but chiefly when its anger is armed
by the ill treatment of the people.'"*
" But Tyen regards not the assertions of
malevolence," rejoined the regent. " The people
are without cause of complaint, excepting for
the seditious counsels spread amongst them."
" Alas !" replied the grand censor, " the
* Vide Du Halde, ii. 301.
THE NAN SOI NG. 267
approaches to the dragon throne have been so
jealously guarded, that not one of the heavy
sighs that load the air without the yellow
palace, have been able to penetrate within.
Sadly, indeed, do the people complain, being
trampled on by a tyrannical minister, whilst the
six sources of prosperity^°^ are withheld fi'om
them."
"But Kyatsetao, our prime minister, has
oeen maligned to you. Be reconciled to him.
Desert the company of seditious caballers, and
be assured that your eyes will presently ac-
knowledge the same abilities as delight yoiu'
sovereign."
"Empress regent, we can no longer view
the ruin of the empire," said the censor ; " so
evil is the administration at present, that many
loyal hearts yearn even for the barbarian
Mogul."
This almost treasonable speech met with no
symptoms of disapprobation. The regent was
disconcerted, and yielding to what she con-
ceived necessit}', she replied : " Then be it so.
Let the secretaries of our council transcribe
our sentence. The prime minister, Kyatsetao,
is deprived of office ; but, in gratitude for the
N 2
268 THE FALL OF THE NAN SOUNG.
services he has rendered three emperors, his
errors are forgiven him, and he may choose
his own place of retreat."
This appeared but a lenient sentence to
those who rancorously desired the life of the
prime minister ; but it could not be opposed,
and the assembly, as though contented, once
more bowed.
" Heaven has spoken ; its will must be
obeyed," observed the chief censor. " Regent,
you are mother of an emperor, against whom
many indignantly cry on account of injustice.
Complete the triumph of the cause of virtue,
tliis day, by according liberty to each prisoner
that be confined for having opposed the late
iniquitous minister."
The regent signified her assent, and the as-
sembly having again nine times prostrated
itself, withdrew.
NOTES TO VOL. II.
Note 138, p. 1 — " The progenitors of a family." — When
the emperor Fohi, who reigned 2953 B.C., undertook to civilize
his subjects, among other regulations, he divided them into one
hundred families, the members of each of which were dis-
tinguished by one common surname. His object in this pro-
ceeding was to assist the enforcement of his matrimonial laws,
that ordained eveiy man should take a companion of the other
sex, and preserve to her the faith he once had plighted,
(De Mailla, i. 6 ;) the intercourse of the sexes previous to this
ha\'ing been quite promiscuous. The members of the same
family were forbidden to intermarry, but were obliged to take,
as their connubial partners, ladies of a different surname to
their own. Thus the laws of the empire permit marriage between
sisters' but not brothers' children, (De Guignes, ii. 809.)
Note 139, p. 3 — "Chess." — The Chinese set of men for
this game consists, like ours, of thirty-two pieces ; sixteen to
each party, but their pieces are different. They have no queen,
and in place of eight pawns, they have but five, the others being
replaced by other pieces, (De Guignes, ii. 311.)
Note 140, p. 10 — " Him who was to become emperor." —
This mode of divination is very ancient. It was practised by
Chun to determine bis choice of a successor, (De Mailla, i. 104.)
270 NOTES TO VOL. II.
Note 141, p. 25 — " Ouang-tsese." — A famous Taotsy at the
court of Hoeitsong of the Soung. He was even consulted by
the mandarins. Before those who sought him spoke, he called
them byname, and told them what they came for, (De Mailla, viii.
354.)
Note 142, p. 36 — " Darting across the sky." — The Chinese
ideas concerning the meteors, vulgarly termed falling-stars, are
that, " les unes passent dans un nouveau signe du zodiaque et
changent de degi*e, les autres tombent pour toujours ; d'autres,
enfin, sont des astres sinistres qui font descendre le malheur sur
les coupables," (Rec. et Peines, 494.)
Note 143, p. 41 — " The invocation.'' — This is the spirit of
the prayer that, in occasions of calamity, the mandarins are
accustomed to address to the celestial guardians of their govern-
ments, (Du Halde, ii. 32, 33.)
Note 144, p. 44 — " Brothers of the examination." — AU those
Kiujin who pass together, "sono cosi d'accordofra di loro, come
se fussero fratelli e ancora cosi si nominano /ra^eZ/i f/'essame,"
(Sem. Eel. 18.)
Note 145, p. 52 — " Permit its ebb." — The river Chentan is
subject to a most extraordinary reflux at the full moon in
October, (Mai*. Martinii, in Thev. ; De Mailla, ix. 375 ; Du
Halde, i. 02.)
Note 146, p. 52 — "Fragrant olive." — " Cueillir I'olea
fragrans, signifie obtenir le gi-ade de docteur," (Rec. et Peines,
455.)
Note 147, p. 54 — " Hajumsin." — A Chinese saint, who has
a temple at Nanchiang-fu. He was an alchemist, and converted
mercury into the purest silver, which he then distributed to the
poor. He bound an enormous dragon that threatened to devas-
tate the province he inhabited, with a steel chain to two iron
pillars, for which humane act, he, his house, and even the mice
in it, were taken up to heaven, (Bartoli. 276 ; Die. Inf.)
Note 148, p. 50 — " Yunnan's son." — The pro\'ince of Yun-
nan is famous for the gold dust contained in the bed of its
rivers. Hence this proverb of the Chinese.
NOTES TO VOL. II. 271
Note 140, p. 08 — " Menshiu." — This idol is usually repre-
sented of gigantic dimensions, with a club in one baud and a key
in the other, (Barrow, 469.)
Note 150, p. 65 — " Chekoua." — A god invoked by the Chi-
nese in suflfering or difficulties. A Chinese, one of three, put to
death by the Dutch, during their occupation of the island of
Formosa, in the most disgustingly bai-barous manner, during
the height of his torments, " s'ecria seulement una fois ou
deux — Ah, Chekoua !" (Eel. de la Prise de For. in. Thev.)
Note 151, p. 68 — "Notes." — It being found difficult to
transport the coin required by the troops warring in Shensee
against the Kin, a.d. 1131, it was proposed that the Hopou
should issue notes wliich might be exchanged for specie on pre-
sentation at the exchequer, (De Mailla.) This paper circula-
tion continued during the reign of the Mogul dynasty. In
M. Polo's time, it was illegal to refuse it, (M. Polo, 353, 354.)
Note 152, p. 70 — "Tien lu." — Proche de Sinhing est la
montagne de Tienlu, pleine de cavernes et dont la veiie donne
de I'horreur ; on dit qu'il y a une fontaine ou plutost une estang
ou, si on jette la moindi-e petite pierre on entend aussitost un
bruit comme d'un tonnerre, que I'air se broiiille incontinent, et
qu'il tombe de la pluye ; on I'appelle I'estang du dragon, (Mar.
Martinii, in Thev.)
Note 153, p. 76 — "A sovereign." — Kaotsong, a.d. 1129.
He was so tenified by the approach of an army of the Kin, that
he fled from Yancheyu, as related, (De Mailla, viii. 473.)
Note 154, p. 80 — " Manjin." — A name "dont les Tartares
ont accoutume de les (Chinese) appeller par injurie et par
moquerie. Le mot Manjin signifie en leur langue des hommes
barbares, a cause de leur (Chinese) orgueil et arrogance," (M.
Martinii. in Thev.)
Note 155, p. 81 — "Breathed heavily in her sleep." — Ladies
thus afflicted were quite incapacitated attending upon the person
ofKublai, (M. Polo, 282.)
272 NOTES TO VOL. II.
Note 156, p. 81 — " Nortliern skies." — " The Tungoose say
that they (the northern lights) are spirits at variance fighting in
the air," (Billings, 67.)
Note 157, p. 82 — " Bamian." — A son of Octai, and grand-
son of Genghis, was killed at the siege of this town. Genghis
was so enraged, that, when the town was taken, he caused every
living creature in it to he put to death, and the huildiugs to he
overturned, (Petis de la Croix. His. 397-8.)
Note 158, p. 82 — " Yassa." — Name of the code of laws
Genghis estahUshed. They reqiiired a helief in God ; settled
the forms for the election of emperors ; regulated the military
discipline, and determined the periods for hunting, &c. (Petis de
la Croix. 100 and fol.)
Note 159, p. 82 — " Tazik." — A I'exemple des Turcs paiens,
les Mongols donnerent aux Mahometans le nom de Tadzik ou
Tazik. It was paiticularly applied to the Mahommetans of the
west — i. e.j of Persia, Kharism, &c. (D'ohsson His. 217.)
Note 160, p. 87 — " Cost him his head." — After the Moguls
had conquered Transoxiana, a secretary of Sultan Mahommed
offered his services to Genghis, which were accepted. He received
orders to translate into Persian a missive that was to he sent
to the Prince of Moussul, which he did ; but amplified it in such
a manner that, on its being re-translated into Mogul, Genghis did
not recognise his own dictation. He was put to death, (D'ohs-
son, 41-3-14.)
Note 161, p. 87 — " Proudly related to him." — This custom
of manufacturing drinking vessels out of the skulls of enemies is
very ancient, and general with all the nomade nations of central
Asia and their descendants. It was practised by the Scj-thians,
(Vide Herod. Mel. 64, 65.) It cost Alboin, the Lombard king,
his life, (Vide MacchiaveUi, Sto. Fio.) Kiyo, Tanju of the
Hiongnu, having slain the king of the Yueky, " fit du crane de
ce prince un vase dont il se servit toujours depuis dans les
grands ceremonies," (De Guignes, His., i., part 2, p. 41.)
NOTES TO VOL. II. 273
Note 162, p. 90 — " Three hundred good acts." — " Si ron
veut devenir un immortel du ciel, il faut faire mille trois cent
bonnes ceu\Tes ; si Ton veut devenir un immortel de la terre, il
faut faire trois cent bonnes ceuvres," (Rec. et Peines, 133.)
Note 163, p. 102 — " Ighuria." — The Ighurs were a people
famous for their clerkship, and who once possessed considerable
power in Asia. To this country, every two years or oftener,
Kublai sent oflBcers, who chose four or five thousand of the
handsomest women, the best of whom were selected for the
imperial palace, the others were distributed among the officers of
the Mogul sovereign, (M. Polo, 281.)
Note 164, p. 109 — " The stone Hiung hoang." — A stone
the Chinese believe to be a sovereign panacea against all poison
or venom, (Du Halde, i. 30.)
Note 165, p. 109 — " Lyheng." — A Mogul general, slg,in by
a poisoned arrow in Yunnan," (De Mailla. )
Note 166, p. 115 — " Koumiss." — To make this preparation,
the milk was beaten, so as to extract the butter from it ; and it
was then allowed to ferment, (Rub. in Ber. 12.) A distillation
of this preparation is very potent.
Note 167, p. 129 — "Nine eai-ths." — Les Chinois tlivisent
les terres en neuf especes. 1. Montagues de bonne terre. 2.
Montagnes pierreuses. 3. Terres et collines. 4. Terres noires
et seches. 5. Terres humides. 6. Terres grasses. 7. Terres
sablonneuses. 8. Terres jaunes. 9. Terres rouges, (Du Halde,
i. 171.)
Note 168, p. 131 — "The conquests it procures him." — It
will be needless to remind the reader that Kublai's constant en-
deavour was to civilize his Mogul subjects.
Note 169, p. 140 — " Even wolves." — For this, see M. Polo,
338. Palla.s also relates of the Kirghis, that, at Orenbourg, a
branch of Russian commerce is the sale of golden eagles. " Ces
oiseaux sont fort recherches par les Kirguis, qui les dressent pour
la chasse du loup, du renard, et de la gazelle," (i. 362.)
Note 170, p. 145 — " Would be merry." — Les Tongousea
274 NOTES TO VOL. II,
pretendent que ces rats ne font provisions de ce cerfeuil (Chae-
roidiyllum tumnlum) que pour s'en enivrer, (Pallas, iv. 273.)
Note 171, p. 155 — " Precepts of vengeance." — " Le meurtrier
de votre pere ne doit pas rester sous le ciel avec vous ; il ne
faut pas mettre les armes has tandis que celui de votre frere vit
encore, et vous ne pouvez pas liabiter un meme royaume avec
celui de votre amis," (Extraits sur la piete filiale. — Amiot. Mem.
iv. 10.)
Note 172, p. IGo — "A number of pavilions had been erected."
— I suspect this custom is derived from the Scythians. (Vide
Her. Mel. 7.3.)
Note 173, p. 106 — " Nuptial chase." — " The ceremony of
man-iage among the Calmucks is performed on horseback. A
girl is first mounted, who rides off at full speed. Her lover
pursues ; and if he overtake her, she becomes his wife. We
were assured that no instance occurs of a Calmuck girl being
thus caught, unless she has a partiality for her pursuer."
(Clarke, 333.) I have not found this ceremony related by any
other writer.
Note 174, p. 169 — " Siuenty." — Emperor of the dj-nasty of
Han. He began to reign b.c. 72. In the twenty-second year
of his reign, by the submission of the Hiongnu, he saw himself
master of all the country as far as the Caspian, (De Mailla, iii.
1.53-4.)
Note 17-5, p. 170 — " Chapolio." — He was chief of the
Toukuiei, or Turks, (Vide Note 205.) A Chinese of the name
of Tkang-sun having attracted his notice by his skill in archery,
Chapolio took him into his service. Tkang-sun having won
the Turkish prince's confidence, proceeded, in connexion with
the Chinese emperor, to sow dissensions among the Turks, the
fruit of which was that Chapolio was compelled to become a
Tcssal of the empire, (Vide De Mailla. De Guignes, His.)
Note 176, p. 171 — " Ngan-lo-chan." — He was a general
of Hiuen-tsong, whose confidence he won. He revolted, at
first with great success ; but his temper being brutalized by
NOTES TO VOL. TI. 275
sickness, he offended some of his officers, who, with his son,
conspired and assassinated him, a.d. 757, (Ue Mailla, \i. 204.)
Note 177, p. 172 — "Six founders of the empire." — Are,
Fohi, who began to reign 2953 B.C., famous for introducing
social order among his people ; Chinnong, for his attention to
agriculture ; Houngty, for liis attention to astronomy, and
formation of tribunals ; Chaohao, for the enclosing of cities with
walls, and introduction of superstitious worship ; Tcbuen-hio,
for his restoration of the worship of Shangty; and lastly, Tico,
for the favour he accorded to national education.
Note 178, p. 177 — " Pasepa." — Was a young man of good
family. In 1200, Kublai named him chief of the Lama, and in
1209, gave him orders to compose an alphabet for the Moguls,
(De Mailla, ix. 287, 310-12.)
Note 179, p. 178 — " Made of abuU's hide." — Les Kalmouks
font leurs vases de cuir avec des peaux de chevaux et de boeufs :
les meilleurs sont ceux de peaux de bceufs, (Pallas.)
Note 180, p. 179 — *' Prepai-ed from milk cake." — According
to M. Polo, p. 214, milk, after having been dried, was evaporated
in the sun. Each Tatar proceeding on an expedition, provided
himself with ten pounds of this preparation, and every morning
he put half a pound into a leathern bottle, with water, in which it
dissolved. Turner relates that coagulated milk was served
him by the Deb Rayah of Butan. This cake, according to
Rubrnquis, in Bergeron, was made from goats' mUk, (p. 13.)
Note 181, p. 180 — "The locust never hovers.' — J'y re-
marquai beaucoup de sauterelles, et particuliermeut deux
espi-'ces, qui nous annoncerent de la phiie pour ce jour la, et
qu'elle seroit de duree. Ce presage est imraanquable, lorsqu'on
voit de ces insectes voltiger dans les airs, (Pallas, iv. 377.)
Note 182, p. 182 — " The destruction of the traveller." —
This narrative concerning the desert is no composition of mine,
but nearly a transcription of what M. Polo relates, and is still
more adapted to my tale, as the credulous but honest Venetian
must have received his information within a few years of this
276 KOTES TO VOL. 11.
visit of my characters to the supposed scene of such active
diablerie. Yet, after all, this author gives but an exaggerated
account of the effects of the mirage.
Note 183, p. 184 — " Thus assured them of prosperity." —
This mode of divination was practised by Genghis khan, to ani-
mate his troops before engaging those of Ouang khan, (vide
M. Polo.) A similar divination was also practised by the
Scythians, according to Herod, (Mel. 67.)
Note 184, p. 18C — " A map of the country." — During the
power of the Turks in the east of Asia, a map of all their posses-
sions as far as the Caspian was presented to the Chinese em-
peror, Yangty, a.d. 607, (De Mailla, v. 510; De Guignes, His.,
vol. i., part 2, p. 412.)
Note 185, p. 214 — " As the eagle above the thunder-clouds."
— The Chinese have an observation concerning this bird that
has been made by other nations, and which is, that the eagle in a
thunder-storm always mounts above the clouds. The Chinese sav;
that no instance was ever known of an eagle being destroyed by
lightning, (Barrow, 470.) The same thing is related by Pliny,
(His. Nat. book 2, p. 56.
Note 186, p. 215 — " Cheousin." — He began to reign e.g.
1154. He was cruel, and addicted to every kind of excess. He
married Takia, (vide Note 65,) with whom he used to amuse
himself witnessing the barbarities he invented. His subjects at
last revolted, and he burnt himself in his palace, (De Maiila.)
Note 187, p. 215 — " Saymakonang." — A learned Chinese,
who flourished in the eleventh century. He was a great his-
torian, and a bitter opponent of Ouaug-ngan-ka, (vide Note 86.)
His memory was highly honoured by some monarchs, and
almost insulted by others, according as the disciples of his or
Ouang-ngan-ka's opinions prevailed, (Vide De Mailla.)
Note 188, p. 220 — " Ginseng." — Is a root famous for its
exhilarating power. It is most highly esteemed by the Chinese,
who administer it in all cases of debility.
Note 189, p. 221 — " Is not concerned in any manual labour."
— The Chinese are not singular in this description of singu-
NOTES TO VOL. II. 277
larities. The ancient Greeks denoted their freedom from servi-
tude by the length of their hair, {KaprjKOfiooJVTeg Ax«tot —
Eus. com. in Homer, i. 1G5. Eome, 1542.) And the European
dandy is no less proud of displaying his effeminacy in his white
hands.
Note 190, p. 229 — " Kaohoangty." — Founder of the dynasty
of the Han. He engaged in war with Mete of the Hiongnu, and
allowed himself to be invested by the latter in Ping-tching, where
he was reduced to great straits. In this extremity, he caused
the most beautiful girl in the town to be sought for, and, having
dressed her ^vith care, presented her to Mete, who had a weakness
for pretty faces. She so well employed the influence her beauty
and talent immediately acquired over Mete, that the last per-
mitted the emperor to escape, (De Mailla, ii. 501-2.)
Note 191, p. 232 — "Hoaigin." — In this town there is a
temple erected to an innkeeper, who faithfully restored to the
heirs of a man who died in his house, a large sum of money that
had belonged to his deceased guest, (Mar. Martinii, Thev.)
Note 192, p. 233— " Legitimate causes of divorce." — They
are, according to Confucius: — 1. Incompatibihty of temper with
her husband's relatives. 2. Sterihty. 3. Incontinency. 4. If
she excite quarrels in her husband's family. 5. Natural infir-
mity. 6. An intemperate tongue. 7. Theft. (Amiot, Mem.
xii. 282.)
Note 193, p. 234 — " Curfew has long since sounded." —
" Some of the watchmen patrol the streets, to observe whether
any person has a light or fire burning after the hour appointed
for extinguishing them," (M. Polo, 531.)
Note 194, p. 235 — "Ouchi." — She was, first, wife of Tait-
song, who died a.d. 049, upon whom she was continually in
attendance in his last moments, and then and there frequently
met the heir apparent, subsequently the emperor, Kaotsong, who
became enamoured of her. When he had ascended the throne,
his empress discovered his passion, aud introduced Ouchi into
the palace, with the design of destroying the influence a concu
278 NOTES TO VOL. II.
bine had acquired over tbe emperor. Ouclii, full of dissimula-
tion, sought at first to procure the favour of every one, and
Kaotsong put her among his wives. At last, Avhen assured of
her influence over the imperial mind, she displayed her real dis-
position. She became mother of a daughter, and had tbe bar-
barity to destroy her child, and accused the empress of the deed.
The emperor believed her, and degraded the emjiress for the
supposed crime, and, though opposed by his gxandees, elevated
Ouchi to that dignity. Ouchi now ap])eared as a monster of
cruelty. She caused tbe deposed empress to be put to death,
with numbers of others who opposed her ambition. She was
suspected of poisoning Lyhouei, heir to the empire. She con-
tinued to exercise her power after the death of Kaotsong, until
deposed by a revolution, a.d. 705, (De Mailla.)
Note 195, p. 249 — "The eternal mother." — The principal
female divinity of the Chinese represented with a cloth over her
head, and a leaf in her hand, (Ellis, 210.) ^
Note 196, p. 255 — "Hospital for the destitute." — M. Polo
(p. 531) says there were several of these hospitals founded by the
ancient emperors.
Note 197, p. 25G — "I shall not cut my nose off." — Une
veuve, dont parle I'histoire, s'etoit coupe le nez pour n'etre pas
forcee de convoler en de secondes noces ;" hence this expres.sion
is common with the Chinese to signify a woman who would re-
many on the death of her husband, (Gro. vi. 45.)
Note 198, p. 258 — "I regi-et the high hat." — The Chinese
bachelors were formerly distinguished from the Benedicts by a
higher hat than that worn by the latter. " Dififerencianse los
que no son casados, de los que lo so en que se trenchau lafrente,
y traen los bonetes mas altos," (Mendo9a. His. 20.)
Note 199, p. 262— "Each being valued at about 200/." — I
have no precise authority for this, but similar pillars, in the
palace of Pekin, were valued, by the father Eicci, at one thousand
crowns, (Bartoli, 302.)
NOTES TO VOL. II. 279
Note 200, p. 2G3 — " Court Gazette." — Is published daily, or
every second day. It contains the names of all the mandarins
who have been degi-aded or promoted, with the causes of their
disgrace or elevation. It also contains the capital sentences, a
relation of all public calamities, of works undertaken, and, in
fine, of everything of importance, (Amiot, Mem. v. 39. Barrow,
391. Du Halde, ii. 42.)
Note 201, p. 2G7 — "Six sources of prosperity." — They are
water, fire, metals, wood, earth, and grain, (Du Halde, ii. 298.)
END OF VOL. II.
T. C. Savill, Printer, 4, Chandos Street, Covent Garden.
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